Angry faceoff at Museum over ‘racist’ statue

No one is speaking softly when it comes to the controversial Teddy Roosevelt statue.

Scores of dueling protesters squared off Sunday to angrily spar over whether the famed statue of the Rough Rider should be removed from its perch outside the Museum of Natural History.

Anti-racism protesters say the bronze image of the former president has to go because it depicts him flanked by two subservient figures, one black and one Native American.

“[This] simply has to do with the history of the city being reconciled with the right side of history, and the abomination that is the statue itself,” said Maria Krovatin, 30, of the Upper West Side.

Vicky Paladino, 65, countered that there is nothing racist about preserving American history.

“They want to totally dismantle [the city], statue by statue and rewrite or erase our history,” said Paladino, of Queens, a Republican who once ran for state Senate. “It

BRITTANY KRIEGSTEIN/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Dueling protesters shout out their views on statue of President Teddy Roosevelt (below) Sunday at the American Museum of Natural History on Central Park West. The work has been derided by anti-racist groups for its “subservient” black and Native American figures, and the museum has agreed to remove it.