Several weeks after the removal of the busts of Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson from Bronx Community College’s Hall of Fame back in August, Mayor Bill de Blasio created an 18-member commission to review “how the city should address monuments seen as oppressive and inconsistent with the values of New York City.”
On Monday, November 27th, Bronx residents will have an opportunity to testify at a hearing and offer their own view on what should be done and in the direct line of fire are monuments to Christopher Columbus who is revered by many in the Italian American community seen as a hero and a visionary who “discovered” America.
But to millions of others across the Americas and indigenous peoples here he’s seen as a mass murderer who ushered in the world’s largest genocide which led to the decimation of hundreds of millions of indigenous peoples.
He’s not the only one causing ire among city residents.
New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito has called for the removal of a Central Park statue of James Marion Sims, a doctor who is considered the “father” of modern gynecology who experimented on enslaved women without using anesthesia and against their will.
The public hearings will be held at the Bronx Borough Hall Rotunda at 851 Grand Concourse from 10AM to 2PM.
Sign up to testify here.