Columbus Circle Statue Will Not Be Moved, City Says

COLUMBUS CIRCLE, NY — Christopher Columbus will not be leaving his circle. The 70-foot-tall monument to the Italian Explorer located in the center of Columbus Circle will not be relocated following recommendations from the Mayoral Advisory Commission on City Art, Monuments and Markers, the city announced Friday.

The Columbus Circle statue was one of the city's most high-profile monuments being analyzed by Mayor Bill de Blasio's commission. It was also one of the most debated, receiving support from many in New York's Italian-American community and opposition from supporters of indigenous and colonized peoples.

Instead of removing the statue of Columbus, the city has agreed to place historical markers detailing the history of Columbus and the monument within Columbus Circle, the city announced. The city will also commission a monument to Indigenous peoples at a location to be determined.

The mayor's commission was split on its recommendations for the statue, but a majority of the members voted in favor of keeping it in its current location, according to the commission's final report. Some recommendations that the city did not act on include the creation of an Indigenous Peoples Day and the creation of a literacy program with the Department of Education to further educate people on Columbus' controversy.

A fight brewed over the Christopher Columbus statue after de Blasio created the monuments commission. Prominent government officials such as then-City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito came out in support of removing the statue, which drew backlash from Italian-American groups.

"When we look it history we have to look at it thoroughly and he is a controversial figure," Mark-Viverito said during a press conference this week. "I know some people may take offense to that but for many of us that come from the Caribbean islands, we see him as a controversial figure."

The statue was vandalized in September when somebody was arrested for painting pink nail polish on the statue's left hand.

But the statue also had many powerful supporters. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo vowed to protect the monument, saying that it would stand as long as he was in office. Cuomo voiced his support for the statue during a weekend gala for the Columbus Citizens Foundation and again at Monday's Columbus Day Parade.

"As long as I am governor of the great State of New York, there will be a statue of Christopher Columbus standing tall and proud in the city of New York," Cuomo said at the gala, as reported by the Daily News.

The Columbus statue is one of four controversial statues — including a monument to a Nazi sympathizer — whose history sparked outrage in 2017 and that the Mayor's office promised on Friday to either move or provide more "historical context."

"Reckoning with our collective histories is a complicated undertaking with no easy solution," de Blasio said in a statement. "Our approach will focus on adding detail and nuance to – instead of removing entirely – the representations of these histories."

Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images News/Getty Images