De Blasio’s statue committee to hold first meeting
The commission Mayor de Blasio appointed to study monuments dedicated to controversial historical figures like Christopher Columbus will hold its first meeting Tuesday at City Hall– the day after Columbus Day, sources said.
De Blasio gave the 18-member panel 90 days to submit its non-binding proposals when it was appointed a month ago.
The panel’s existence has enraged New York City’s Italian American civic leaders, who are fighting to block a growing anti-Columbus movement from taking hold in the Big Apple.
A few cities, including Los Angeles, have scrapped Columbus Day and renamed it in honor of “indigenous” people.
Italian American leaders questioning the timing of the panel’s first meeting.
“Scheduling the first meeting the day after Columbus Day is a cowardly indication of the commission’s intention to ignore the Italian-American community whose NY values were on display throughout the state,” said Philip Foglia, head of the Italian American Legal Defense Fund.
“Scheduling a meeting with little or no public notice does not inspire confidence the commission even has a clue as to New York values. Please take notice that nearly half of the commission members are not even native New Yorkers.“
De Blasio hastily announced he was setting up the panel following rioting by white supremacists opposing the removal of confederate statues in Charlottesville, Va.
He’s gotten blow back from Italian American groups ever since.
Actor Chazz Palminerti told The Post that City Hall’s failure to stand up for Columbus is the reason he skipped the mayor’s Italian Heritage reception Thursday night to accept an honor.
“The Italian-American community is rightfully upset with the disrespect it is enduring by those challenging Columbus statues. I stand emphatically with my community and felt it inappropriate to give any legitimacy to those not supportive of Italian Americans on this important issue,” Palminteri said in a statement.
“Our founding fathers saw fit to name the capital district in Columbus honor and now a commission is going to decide if his statue is appropriate? Ridiculous!”
Amid the controversy, vandals have defaced the Columbus monuments at Columbus Circle and in Central Park, triggering 24-7 police protection of the statues.
De Blasio has tried to quell the controversy.
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding of what options could be utilized,” the mayor said in late August.
He said contested monuments might get plaques with explanations instead of being removed.
His spokesman said there is “no plan to touch” the Columbus statue in Columbus Circle.
Italian-Americans revere Columbus for discovering the Americas, seeing him a symbol of pride and progress.
But critics, citing evidence of Columbus’ atrocities committed against the Taino indians and other native people in the Caribbean, said he doesn’t deserve to be put on a pedestal.
Activist groups will hold an anti-Columbus Day tour at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday urging the city to “end its love affair with Christopher Columbus by replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day.“
The petition sponsored by Decolonize This Place has gathered over 6,000 signatures.