NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A statue of Christopher Columbus was removed from a Newark park, Mayor Ras Baraka announced Friday on Twitter.
"In keeping with the movement to remove symbols of oppression and white supremacy, we have decided to remove the statue of Christopher Columbus from Washington Park," Baraka wrote. "We took it down with city work crews in a safe and orderly manner, to avoid the potential danger of people taking it upon themselves to topple it."
City work crews took the statue in a "safe and orderly manner," in order to avoid the potential danger of people taking it upon themselves to topple it, according to the mayor.
In his tweets, Baraka also assured Italian-American groups that the removal of the statue was not an attack against them.
"The removal of this statue should not be perceived as an insult to the Italian-American community," he added. "It is a statement against the barbarism, enslavement, and oppression that this explorer represents."
