Monument fight takes aim at Christopher Columbus statue, Confederate streets
UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- The statue of Christopher Columbus in the middle of Columbus Circle is now at the center of controversy.
City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito wants the city to consider it among controversial monuments officials are hoping to remove.
Columbus is revered by many, but others argue he should not be honored because he brutalized and killed many native Americans. Because of that, they argue his legacy is tarnished.
Mayor Bill de Blasio recently commissioned a task force to look at statues and monuments around the city, and after a 90-day review, make a recommendation as to what they believe should happen.
Mark-Viverito argued Columbus should be called into question because of his brutal and bloody past.
"There are still to this day conversations happening because of the monuments, other Columbus statues, being talked about," she said. "I would want the commission to look at that statue as well."
Meanwhile in Brooklyn, a rally was held Tuesday as protesters fight for the renaming of General Lee Avenue and Stonewall Jackson Drive in Fort Hamilton. Both Governor Andrew Cuomo and Congresswoman Yvette Clark have called the Secretary of the Army to request the change, but he has said he believes the issue is too divisive.
"When you think about the insult, when you think about the hypocrisy, where you have our Joint Chiefs of Staff coming out with statements in the wake of Charlottesville to say that they don't tolerate racial bigotry," Clark said. "For them to have their bases named after Confederates, streets and their roadways named after Confederates, it sends an awfully mixed signal."
Clark says the streets, which she calls magnets for the alt-right movement, have no place as US military installations. She is introducing legislation at the House of Representatives to have all such names and imagery removed.
