New York police guard statue of Columbus around the clock
It’s a dangerous time to be a controversial statue in America.
Monuments of Confederate leaders have been removed in several Southern cities, where leaders say statues honoring the men who fought to defend slavery don’t reflect the sentiments of 21st century constituents — and should come down.
Constituents in other places have taken matters into their own hands, climbing ladders and attaching ropes to the statues, pulling them down and then posting the amateur demolition efforts on social media.
The tension was stoked by a deadly far-right rally in Charlottesville, Va., which began in opposition to the city’s plan to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Such controversial monuments have emerged as large, looming targets in some of the most heated debates in 2017 America.
The nearly 70-foot granite column and statue of Christopher Columbus in New York is part of a heated debate.
The monument, which sits in the center of Columbus Circle in Midtown Manhattan, is under 24/7 guard by New York police in advance of Columbus Day, the increasingly controversial federal and state holiday, according to Newsweek. That round-the-clock guard puts the statue on par with other high-profile targets like the Brooklyn Bridge and the United Nations building.
The Columbus Circle monument and another statue of the explorer in the city were vandalized twice in September — once with red paint, and another time with pink nail polish.
Daniel Kimery, 38, the suspected wielder of the nail polish, said it symbolized the blood on Columbus’s hands, according to the New York Post.
A 7-foot-tall Columbus statue in Central Park was spray-painted with the words “Hate will not be tolerated.” And his hands were covered in red ink, according to the Post. The defacer is still at large.
Authorities fear that more vandalism could come as emotions rise before Columbus Day, which comes Monday.
In a statement to Newsweek, New York police said: “In light of recent vandalism, the NYPD has assigned patrol resources to maintain a post in the vicinity of the Columbus Statue.”