Proposed NYC Jefferson Statue Removal Puts De Blasio On Defensive

NEW YORK CITY — A plan to exile a 187-year-old Thomas Jefferson statue from City Hall created a literal historic controversy for Mayor Bill de Blasio.

De Blasio on Thursday tried to distance himself from the city's Public Design Commission's proposal to remove a Jefferson statue from City Hall's Council chambers, an action first reported by the New York Post.

In effect, he declared the mayoral-appointed commission's independence.

"I name people for sure, but they then exercise their judgment," he said.

"I start with the assumption that it'll be approved, but I don't know," he said. "That's ultimately a decision that the commission makes."

The proposed Jefferson statue removal thrust New York City into a wider debate over public monuments honoring slave owners such as Jefferson or Confederates who fought a war to perpetuate slavery.

One-by-one, Confederate statues are being torn down. But doing the same for statues of slave-owning Founding Fathers is an inherently fraught debate.

De Blasio himself touched on Jefferson's complicated legacy — the man who wrote "all men are created equal" enslaved 600 human beings, some of whom were beaten or gave birth to his children.

"The thing that is so troubling to people is that even someone who understood so deeply values of freedom and human dignity, and the value of each life, was still a slave owner," de Blasio said. "And I understand why that profoundly bothers people and why they find that something that can't be ignored.

"At the same time, stating the obvious, one of the most profoundly important figures in American history — and one of the people who created this nation and created the good and strong and vibrant values of this nation."

The statue's potential removal began last year after a police officer murdered George Floyd.

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and four of his colleagues penned a letter to de Blasio supporting the statue's removal. That process began when members requested the design commission review the Jefferson statue's place in their chamber.

On Wednesday, the City Council's Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus released a statement calling the relocation "years in the making."

"This history includes acknowledging the fact that this Founding Father held dominion over 600 African slaves, and likened the notion of their freedom from captivity to, 'Abandoning children,'" members wrote.

De Blasio said he respected council members' right to raise such a concern.

The design commission plans to move the statue to the New-York Historical Society.

Read more: Controversial Thomas Jefferson Statue Might Be Coming To The UWS

Patch writer Gus Saltonstall contributed to this report.