Ending a decades-long push to do so, the Public Design Commission voted unanimously on Monday to remove a circa-1833 statue of former president and slaveholder Thomas Jefferson from the City Council chamber in City Hall.
The commission's president, Signe Nielsen, said, "We acknowledge that the piece needs to be removed from the City Council chamber," and that it would happen by the end of the year.
While there have been multiple attempts to remove the statue from City Hall over the years, the latest came last week when the Council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus released a statement saying, in part, "The administration owes it to New Yorkers of color to resolve that the individuals memorialized within the confines of our People’s House be reflective not only of the best traditions of our city’s history and its diversity but unquestionable character."
The Caucus released the following statement after yesterday's decision, expressing disapproval in delaying the removal of the statue:
We are deeply disappointed that the Public Design Commission voted to prolong the indignity of having the statue of Thomas Jefferson – a founding father who also holds the dubious distinction of profiteering from the more than 600 human beings he owned as chattel, forcing himself upon a captive Sally Hemmings against her will, and being a white supremacist – lord over our members as they conduct the People’s business on behalf of more than five million New Yorkers of color, who themselves do not measure up to Jefferson’s own standards of liberty and equality, as his own personal correspondence suggests. The failure of the PDC to immediately recognize the symbolism of acting decisively to expel his likeness from Council Chambers in order to demonstrate its appreciation for the overriding need to amend the historical record of America’s founding so that it accurately reflects the roots of its origins in the original sin of human slavery is an affront to the entire city. Moreover, we are equally dismayed that the PDC commissioners themselves were so poorly prepared to resolve an issue that was first raised in objection by our Caucus two decades ago, and most recently with this Administration over the last two years, which in the era that we are currently living hardly requires any clarification or additional research to determine that Council Chambers is not an appropriate venue for providing the context this unwanted symbol of his likeness so desperately requires. We along with our allies will continue to press the need for swift action to remove the indelible stain of Thomas Jefferson’s sordid history of human bondage – and its influence on his successors in purging the civilizations of our indigenous peoples – from the confines of the People’s House in this day and age.
The statue removal seems to have been delayed because of uncertainty around its future home. One plan was to loan the statue to the New-York Historical Society; last week the NYHS's Director of Public Relations, Marybeth Ihle, told Gothamist that discussions were ongoing, and if they received the statue, "there are no specific plans for display at the moment, [but] in future years [they could] present an exhibition that may include it."
At Monday's hearing, however, Nielsen noted she was opposed to this plan. “We as a commission will act before the end of 2021 in finding an appropriate location where it remains in the public realm," she said. "Public art to me means public, not pay to see." The NYHS has a $22 entry fee for adults.
Nielsen added, "There are 700 pieces of art under our jurisdiction, we cannot make a rash decision that will set a precedent for the other 699 pieces of artwork that may also have challenges from people or other groups of people."
Ihle, of the New-York Historical Society, told Gothamist today, "As New York City’s American history museum, the New-York Historical Society collects, preserves, and interprets for the broadest possible public art, artifacts, books, and manuscripts documenting the nation's past. If loaned to New-York Historical's museum, the statue of Thomas Jefferson would be displayed in the main gallery on the first floor and given appropriate historical context, including details of Thomas Jefferson's complicated legacy—his contributions as a founder and draftsman of the Declaration of Independence and the contradiction between his vision of human equality and his ownership of enslaved people--and the statue's original purpose as a tribute to Jefferson's staunch defense of freedom of religion and separation of church and state."
The NY Post reported that the New York Public Library, "which has a copy of the Declaration of Independence in Jefferson’s handwriting," could be another potential location for the statue. The NYPL has not yet returned our request for comment.
