Purity (Defeat of Slander) was a sculpture erected in Times Square in 1909 by artist Leo Lentelli. The statue depicts a crowned women draped in robes on a tall plinth. She holds a shield with the words "Our City" inscribed with "visible great dark blotches and spots to typify the mudslinging she had warded off," described William Harmon Black, former president of New York City's Board of Alderman (via Untapped Cities). Symbolically, the work represented public criticism of widespread political corruption in New York City politics at the time.

Ultimately, the statue's life was short lived. Made of plaster, Purity melted in a downpour in November of 1909, and the 8-ton sculpture was dismantled a soon after.