Council members demand removal of Thomas Jefferson statue from City Hall
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Calls are growing louder to remove a statue of Thomas Jefferson from New York City Hall.
On Thursday, the eve of Juneteenth, members of City Council, including Council Speaker Corey Johnson, demanded the removal of a Thomas Jefferson statue from City Hall.
The statue, which is currently placed against a wall inside the City Council chamber, was referred to by council members as a statue of a slave master.
Johnson says the council cannot remove the statue, so instead, a group of council members wrote a letter to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio asking for his support in removing the statue.
In addition to Johnson, the members calling for the statue's removal were Debi Rose and Inez Barron as well as Adrienne Adams and I. Daneek Miller, who are co-chairs of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus.
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