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Valley Stream florist’s statue blooms to life at NYC exhibit

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Lisa-Marie Elfante admits that she didn’t know a thing about flowers — and couldn’t tell the difference between a rose and a carnation, as she likes to say — when she opened her Valley Stream floral shop in 2005.

But nearly two decades later, the owner of the beloved Central Florist in Valley Stream joined 15 other top-level, New York City florists to create lush and larger-than-life floral sculptures commemorating “remarkable women” in history.

The botanical exhibition, called “Femmes” and sponsored by the floral show company, Fleurs de Villes, has been on display at Hudson Yards’ opulent shopping mall, known as The Shops, since Oct. 7. 

City dwellers and flower lovers are getting a glimpse of the glamorously embellished mannequin look-alikes of female trailblazers and powerhouses, including Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai, Serena Williams, and even Queen Elizabeth II.

The opportunity to take part in this year’s exhibition dropped on Elfante’s lap at the last minute, she said, when another florist suddenly dropped out of the event. Most of the other florists were given months of prep time, but Elfante and her team, including her daughter, Jacquilyn Smith, and boyfriend, Gus Pino, had about two weeks to construct the creation.

Elfante initially expressed doubts about going ahead with the project, Pino said, but it was an opportunity that they simply couldn’t pass up. 

As a result, Elfante’s team took home the award for “Most Creative” for the floral sculpture of former U.S. congresswoman and women’s rights political firebrand, Bella Abzug, also nicknamed “Battling Bella.”

Elfante sought to recapture a snapshot of Abzug standing at the podium amid one of her rousing speeches.

“Anything that you use to build it, mechanics, anything, had to be covered with either fresh flowers, dried flowers, or some sort of botanical,” Elfante said. “It took us forever to get the fine detail of her jacket and shirt. And she’s also known for her hats.”

She and her daughter came up with the idea to use black and navy Goya beans to help replicate the more intricate floral pattern of Abzug’s outfit, which they painstakingly hot-glued themselves.

They struggled to get Battling Bella’s design ready in time for transport on the truck to Manhattan, and when they tried to set up the stand meant to hold the 10-foot statue, the stand broke, Elfante said.

“I almost packed it in,” she said. “I was literally on the brink of a breakdown.”

She improvised a solution to use empty buckets to prop the sculpture up and zip-tie the legs, covering the impromptu handiwork with a conveniently available roll of moss.

“It was one of the craziest things that I’ve ever done, other than buying this store,” Elfante said. “But it was amazing.”

Smith said, “I know we were able to pull this off because the three of us really work well under pressure. I love that the woman that we got is somebody who stands for women’s rights, especially since she was a New Yorker. So I think that she was the perfect person to be part of the exhibition.”

Pino spent more than a week constructing the intricate microphone and the platform. “Anyone that came by at the exhibition had to stop and look at that jacket,” Pino said. “It was wonderful.”

“I’d just like to thank the community for the support because they were messaging me and following me every step along the way,” Elfante said. “I couldn’t let our community down. They’ve been so amazing.”

Have an opinion about Elfante's sculpture? Send an email to jlasso@liherald.com.