NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The American Museum of Natural History confirmed that workers have begun to remove the controversial statue of former President Theodore Roosevelt.
"The process, conducted with historic preservation specialists and approved by multiple New York City agencies, will include restoration of the plaza in front of the museum, which will continue through the spring," a museum spokesperson said.
The bronze statue, which has sat outside the museum's entrance since 1940, depicts the 26th American president on horseback with a Native American man and an African man on foot at his side.
Though some have praised the sculpture for its history, it has, however, long been accused of racism.
In 2020, the museum requested its removal, which then-Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed with, calling it "problematic."
"The American Museum of Natural History has asked to remove the Theodore Roosevelt statue because it explicitly depicts Black and Indigenous people as subjugated and racially inferior," he said in a statement at the time.
The New York City Public Design Commission eventually voted unanimously to relocate the statue this past June.
The statue is set to be moved on a long-term loan to the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota.
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