Columbus with an asterisk
Now de Blasio wants plaques to ‘explain’ statues
Columbus may be getting an asterisk.
Facing mounting criticism of his plan to remove some of the city’s monuments — possibly including the Christopher Columbus statue in Columbus Circle — Mayor de Blasio went to Plan B on Monday.
For the first time, the mayor said that instead of the heave-ho, contested monuments might get plaques that offer explanations of the historical figures they depict.
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding of what options could be utilized,” the mayor said at an unrelated press conference in Brooklyn. “There’s more than one way to address this. I don’t think anyone should leap to any conclusions. They should see how this commission does its work and what it presents.”
De Blasio predicted that many statues reviewed by a panel he expects to convene within days will be left alone.
Some might gain historical context with an explanatory plaque, while the most divisive monuments would be recommended for removal.
The mayor held up the National Park Service as an agency that has been good at providing context for displays.
“To folks who are concerned, I would say don’t prejudge,” he said. “We haven’t even named the commission.”
It was not clear Monday who would be writing the new historical accounts.
Councilman Joe Borelli (R-SI), who last week organized a rally outside City Hall to preserve monuments to Columbus, said the mayor’s softer stance was welcome, even though it came a bit late.
“Placing it in context would be a reasonable solution. But nobody jumped the gun,” he said, before blaming de Blasio and Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito for not tamping down suggestions that the 15th-century explorer’s statues would be removed.
“He and the speaker made qualifying statements on who should be removed,” he said. “When Columbus was mentioned, the mayor could have downplayed it right then, and the speaker could have not made the case for removal.”
Hizzoner has refused to comment on specific statues, despite announcing the review panel on Twitter by saying a marker for French Nazi collaborator Henri Philippe Pétain in the Financial District’s Canyon of Heroes would be one of the first to go.
The mayor first tweeted about the initiative following the violence in Charlottesville, Va., sparked by white nationalists who opposed the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Since the panel was announced, scores of groups have come forward to oppose various monuments.
The flood of complaints has led elected officials to criticize the mayor for not setting the criteria for removal at the outset. But de Blasio said he would leave it to the panel to decide the parameters.