NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Republican Mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa blasted Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council during a rally Thursday questioning if the desire to remove a statue of Thomas Jefferson at City Hall is necessary.
"With everything that's gone wrong in the city of New York, is this really the most pressing issue in the city now in the waning days of de Blasio's failed mayorship?" Sliwa asked.
The Public Design Commission will vote next week whether the over 180-year-old statue will be removed. Some City Council members have sought its removal from the Council chamber due to Jefferson’s slave ownership and beliefs.
If passed, the statue will be moved to the New York Historical Society.
It's his historical purpose that Sliwa said serves as a "symbol to look up to." He said if elected, he will rescind the decision.
"This statue of Thomas Jefferson should remain in its rightful place as it has for 186 years — through depression, through war, through peace, through all kinds of problems, in good times and bad times," he said.
The "Guardian Angels" founder, who said Monday he also wants to erect a statue of Christopher Columbus on Staten Island, pondered the possible consequences if Jefferson is moved.
"We are going down a slippery slope,' Sliwa warned. "When you go to Wall Street, what is it that looms over all the visitors, all the commercial and capital business that takes place each day? The statue of George Washington. Should that be removed and put into moth balls in storage? Are we going to do that to the Thomas Jefferson statue? Are we completely losing our minds and forgetting our history?"
On Thursday, de Blasio said he respected the City Council's request and noted Jefferson's "complex" history.
"The thing that is so troubling to people is that even someone who understood so deeply the values of freedom and human dignity and the value of life was still a slave owner and I understand why that profoundly bothers people and why they find it something that can't be ignored," he said.
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