Battle To Remove Christopher Columbus Statue In Parsippany

PARSIPPANY, NJ - A Parsippany student has started a petition to remove a statue of Christopher Columbus from in front of the Parsippany-Troy Hills Municipal building and it has sparked a backlash.

"I felt that now was as good of a time as any to make a petition to remove the Columbus statue in Parsippany," Emily Cruz said on the petition, noting Black Lives Matter and other minority movements making their way across the nation. "We should not, in any way, celebrate or recognize his slaughter and enslavement of indigenous people. This is not someone that our town should be honoring with a statue."

Thus far the petition has garnered nearly 600 votes and a chorus of supporting commentors.

"Agreed. Someone like a native American leader would be a more appropriate depiction," Joseph Mann said. "Parsippany is derived from a Lenape word, after all."

Catherine Lanigan said that considering the indigenous roots of this town, it is at the very least wildly insensitive to memorialize one of this land’s genocidal colonizers.

"As outdated, offensive, and racist monuments come down across our nation, I ask that Parsippany join this effort towards a more just future," she said.

The bust of Columbus was installed on a granite base on Parsippany Boulevard in 1992 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Italian explorer landing in the Americas.

There are some who believe the statue should stay, so much so that they started their own petition to counter the removal.

"We, the people of Parsippany, reject the calls to remove the statue of Christopher Columbus," Robert Quinn said in his petition, which has more than 300 signatures.

"It would be highly disrespectful to remove the Christopher Columbus statue as it has become a symbol of the proud Italian Heritage," Louis Conte said.

Keith Bochner said he didn't want to erase history and Gregg Stull said erasing it was counterproductive. Theresa Gerber noted that Columbus is an important part of our history.

"We cannot undo history, we can make changes going forward," she said.

Senator Joe Pennacchio said he opposes the removal of the statue, saying that for better of for worse, the past is permanent.

"It is our future that is a blank canvas that will be crafted through the shared vision of varied interests contributing common goals, priorities, and dreams," he said. “Recently a statue of Abraham Lincoln was defaced in Massachusetts. In England, a statue of Winston Churchill was damaged. In Washington D.C., a monument to the all-Black 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry regiment was defaced. To add to these misguided attempts of historical revision is just wrong."

Pennacchio said instead of trying to erase and re-write history, we should focus on challenging ourselves to create a better history for ourselves and our future generations.

Brittany Rakoski said that Parsippany was her hometown and Lenape leaders should go in place of the Columbus bust. Aya Alzubi also agreed with the statue's removal.

"This legend was built upon the pain and suffering of the true indigenous people of America," she said.

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