JERSEY CITY — The Katyn statue controversy, which spanned nine months, was the focus of hours of clamorous public debate and caused a bit of an international incident between the mayor and the Polish Senate president, finally come to an end on Thursday at 1:16 a.m. when the City Council voted to … keep the statue exactly where it’s been for nearly 30 years.

It was the third time Mayor Steve Fulop’s now-scuttled plan to relocate the monument kept council members on the dais past midnight: a hearing at their June 13 meeting did not end until nearly 3 a.m. City officials were exhausted when the statue discussion began early Thursday, six hours after the council meeting began, and their frustration showed.

When a spat between audience members threatened to delay the final vote, City Clerk Robert Byrne pleaded, “Can we please conclude this?”

When the vote arrived, the result was unanimous. All eight council members present voted to adopt an ordinance that orders that the Katyn monument, which commemorates the 1940 massacre of over 20,000 Polish people during World War II, remain at Exchange Place “in perpetuity.”

Council President Rolando Lavarro, who has criticized Fulop’s handling of the Katyn controversy, apologized to the few dozen people who were still in the council chambers, some of them waving Polish flags.

“This has been disgraceful for Jersey City in many ways,” Lavarro said.

Teacher Kristen Zadroga-Hart was one of the leaders of the push to keep the statue where it is. She called the council's action a "Polish Christmas miracle" and thanked it for voting against the wishes of "self-serving developers."

“Jersey City was an amazing place to live and work long before they were here and will remain as such long after they have closed up shop and moved on to the next city," she said.

The statue flap started in April when Fulop confirmed the city planned to relocate the monument, which was dedicated in 1991 and sits outside a waterfront PATH station. The mayor said the monument had to be moved during a planned renovation of the Exchange Place plaza, and later said the relocation would be permanent. Mike DeMarco, the CEO of real estate firm Mack-Cali, which owns property in and around Exchange Place, called the statue “gruesome.” It depicts a bound-and-gagged soldier stabbed in the back with a bayoneted rifle.

Members of the Polish community in Jersey City and around the region reacted in anger, accusing the city of trying to erase history by moving the statue to a less prominent location, all to appease a real estate developer. Fulop tried to find a compromise by saying he would move it only one block south and create a new park around it, but critics remained opposed.

After the council adopted a measure at its June 13 meeting authorizing the statue’s relocation, critics formed a committee to circulate an official petition aimed at reversing the ordinance. After stunning Fulop by collecting nearly 7,000 signatures from voters, the city scheduled a referendum on Dec .11 to let voters make the final call.

Before voting took place, Fulop changed course and asked council members to change their minds, too. A referendum on the Katyn statue might delay the city’s implementation of a payroll tax, Fulop said when he urged them to reverse their votes. On Nov. 22, the council introduced an ordinance intended to keep the statue at Exchange Place “in perpetuity” and early Thursday morning they gave the measure their final approval.

The public debate around the Katyn statue has been unusual and Thursday’s public hearing was no exception. One woman referred to the matter as “a very painful, long-term pregnancy.” At 12:30 a.m., city attorney Norma Garcia took the microphone to issue a seven-minute monologue that one council member called “bizarre.” Later, Victoria Cambranes, a failed candidate for council in New York City, chided the politically ambitious Councilman James Solomon for looking tired.

“You have a cute face but it takes a lot more to win an election for mayor," she told him.

Some administration critics on Thursday suggested there is still a way the statue could be moved. Councilwoman Denise Ridley said she would not entertain reviving the issue.

“I will not be voting on anything else related to this statue," she said.

The Jersey Journal asked the city spokeswoman in an email if Fulop has any regrets about how the Katyn matter unfolded. The email was not returned.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.