Colum-buzz
Italian pols rally for statues, warn Bill
ITALIAN-AMERICAN politicians blasted their paesano Mayor de Blasio for considering the removal of statues of Christopher Columbus as part of a commission to ditch symbols of hate.
“You’ve chosen to reopen historical arguments that are 400 years old,” Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island) said. “And your actions, whether you want to admit it or not, are going to be more divisive to New Yorkers than uniting.”
Borelli and others cited Columbus — who led expeditions on behalf of Spain that began Europe’s contact with the Americas — as a symbol of Italian-American pride. But others point to him as a colonizer of already-occupied land whose arrival ultimately led to the the death of huge amounts of native people.
“That statue in Columbus Circle does not represent the explorer. It represents the experience of the Italian immigrant community who came here,” state Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island) said.
Several in the crowd — including actor and radio host Joe Piscopo — acknowledged Columbus’ “flaws.”
“He’s flawed, we’re all flawed. I’m flawed,” Piscopo said.
De Blasio, who marches in the annual Columbus Day Parade, has said little about Columbus specifically except that his still-not-created commission would consider all suggestions for monuments that may be offensive. City Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito has said the commission should consider removing it.
“The figure of Christopher Columbus is a controversial figure. There is nothing that is not factual in that statement,” she said Thursday, adding she respected the contributions of Italian immigrants.
At the rally, several attendees deemed the controversy over Columbus sudden or a product of “revisionist history,” including Assemblyman Ron Castorina (R-Staten Island), who called Columbus an icon. “The icon of Italian-American culture, why? Because of some of the revisionist history that you hear?” he asked. “No. Because he was the first European explorer to come this way, to chart this course, to defy the science of his day.” Columbus was not the first European to travel to the Americas; Norse explorer Leif Ericson led an expedition hundreds of years before. Castorina later said Columbus was the first to establish lasting contact between Europe and the Americas.
Councilman Vincent Gentile (D-Brooklyn), who’s seeking to become the next Brooklyn district attorney, praised Columbus as a “warrior.”
“There were Native Americans that weren’t welcoming to him,” Gentile said, “so he had to be not only an explorer but a warrior too. But we understand that.”
Asked to clarify whether native people should have been more welcoming to someone who claimed their land, Gentile ignored the question and looked at his phone.