Statue issue front & center – gov lauded
for being a true patriot and doing what he believes in his heart is correct, unlike some other people who are marching in today’s parade (who) do not have the (courage) to stand up for Italians and the culture and our heritage and the things that we have done for the fabric of this country.”
De Blasio has formed a commission to examine the city’s statues and monuments to see whether any merit removal for objectionable content.
The mayor has refused to say how he feels about the Columbus statue.
“Nothing is going to change in the short term. I think some of the critics, possibly for their own purposes, have tried to gin this up,” he said.
Cuomo, asked about the mayor’s monuments review, said, “I reject the negativity of a lot of the current-day political tactics across the country.”
“The mood of the people is angry, so it’s almost definition by opposition. ‘I’m against this. I’m against this. I’m against this,’ ” he said.
While Cuomo has stood up for keeping the Columbus Circle Statue in place, he has asked the U.S. Army to rename two streets on a Brooklyn military base currently honoring Confederate Army generals.
Differing with the critics in the crowd, de Blasio said he’s proud of his Italian roots.
“I’m very proud of my heritage, that’s all I care about. I don’t care about the critics,” said de Blasio, whose mother was Italian. “But look, I think the commission is an attempt to deal with a lot of things and I want to do a better job of articulating this.”
De Blasio noted that his grandfather came from Naples and his grandmother from farther south.
“They came from small towns to live an American Dream which probably seemed unimaginable in many ways, but they came here over 100 years ago and were able to have an amazing life in this city to bring their children and teach them to love New York and love America,” he said.
“My family experienced the American Dream and we celebrate that today we celebrate that entire immigrant experience.”
He also honored his mom, Maria. “(She) did so much for me,” he said.
He said his Aunt Yola, who died last year in her 90s, often spoke of her history.
"She told me just last year how much it stung that kids made fun of them because they were Italian because they spoke with an accent, because they looked different,” he said. “Italians in this county suffered discrimination for a long long time, and we’re still overcoming it.”
“I think what we should be focused on today is this heritage and what it means,” he said. “You can debate the historic figure of Christopher Columbus, but you can’t debate the contribution of Italian-Americans to this country — that is beyond question. It’s overwhelming and it’s incredible, positive.”
Police officials actively blocked reporters from speaking to people razzing the mayor along the parade route. Each time they tried, police insisted that they keep moving.
At one point, the mayor’s security detail ordered reporters to move away from mayoral candidate Bo Dietl.