New York Officials Target America's Historic Icons

"If you don't want them, we will gladly take them," was Brookhaven Supervisor Edward Romaine's message to the New York City leaders looking to remove historical monuments to Christopher Columbus and the founders of America. 

"We believe that they will enhance our quality of life and remind us of our history," the supervisor said as he identified a number of town parks that could be enhanced by the statues. "There are people in New York City who want to cancel our history; they want everyone to forget how America came to be. It's ridiculous."

Last week, the city's Cultural Affairs Committee chose to use a meeting of the United Nations to highlight their push to remove five statues of Columbus from public places, along with monuments to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. The idea was quickly met with scorn by Italy's Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, who placed a wreath of flowers on the larger-than-life-sized bronze statue located at the center of Columbus Circle, the most famous in the U.S. depicting the Italian explorer. 

"Through this important reaffirmation of identity, the President celebrated a symbol of the cultural and moral history of the American people," Meloni's office said in a statement. 

"They want to put their standards on historical figures that lived hundreds of years ago. Columbus was a hero in his time and still is today," Romaine said. "He was a very brave man who decided to sail west when everyone was sailing east. They thought the world was flat and you would fall off. Columbus went into the unknown and discovered a new continent." The supervisor said he would work with the Sons of Italy and the Knights of Columbus to find a suitable location for the monuments, which he noted the town would pay to relocate. A potential site is the Tri-Hamlet Park off William Floyd Parkway in Shirley.

"Having New York City's statues in our town is a wonderful idea," said Frank DeNatale of Shirley, the Grand Knight of the James V. Kavanaugh K of C Council. "Hat's off to Supervisor Romaine for stepping up and offering homes for Christopher Columbus and the other historic icons where they will be respected and appreciated."

Romaine suggested that the town-owned Roe Tavern site on Route 25A in East Setauket would be a perfect spot for monuments depicting George Washington, the leader of the Continental Army that defeated the British in America's war for independence, and the new nation's first president. The tavern was a key setting for General Washington's Long Island spy ring, which helped turn the tide against the king.

Statues of Thomas Jefferson, writer of the Declaration of Independence and the nation's third president, could go to the Port Jefferson waterfront in a popular town park on the harbor also named for the founding father. The nation's first secretary of state, Jefferson's writings, and advocacy for human rights, including freedom of thought, speech, and religion, helped inspire the revolution.

The cultural committee, appointed by Mayor Eric Adams, has scheduled a hearing on their plan to remove the images, arguing that Columbus does not deserve recognition because he supposedly mistreated the indigenous people that he met. Past presidents Washington and Jefferson should be eliminated because they owned slaves.

"We benefit from recognizing our past and honoring the contributions of those who came before us," said Romaine, a former history teacher. "These people want to obliterate that and cast our nation in a different light that better suits their agenda. It's nothing short of foolish."