The History of the Christopher Columbus Statue in New York
Christopher Columbus still watches over America! Despite controversies, New York continues to pay a fitting tribute to the man who discovered America.
New York has no shortage of statues! From the famous Wall Street Bull to the Fearless Girl to the bust of President Roosevelt, you’ll encounter many notable figures around the city. But one deserves special attention: Christopher Columbus, the navigator who reached the Americas on October 12, 1492—the man who, in a sense, brought New York into being.
Finding Christopher Columbus is easy. The Genoese navigator has an entire plaza dedicated to him at the southwestern corner of Central Park: Columbus Circle. His statue stands on a tall column in the middle of the traffic circle. And the monument’s history is full of interesting details.
Christopher Columbus has watched over New York since 1892
This marble statue, 23 meters (75 feet) tall, was created by Italian sculptor Gaetano Russo. It was installed in 1892 to mark the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s voyage to the Americas. The statue was funded by Il Progresso Italo-Americano, a magazine serving New York’s Italian community that closed in 1988.
Along the column, bronze silhouettes show the prows and sterns of the three ships from Columbus’s first voyage: the Santa Maria, the Niña, and the Pinta. At the monument’s base, relief sculptures tell the story of the remarkable journey to the Indies.
A statue at the center of controversy
The Columbus statue nearly came down. After the 2017 racial violence in Charlottesville, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the removal of all “symbols of hate” from city parks. While European textbooks celebrate Columbus as the discoverer of America, many in the United States view him as a colonizer responsible for the deaths of indigenous peoples. Calls grew to remove the statue from its pedestal. De Blasio ultimately decided to keep it in place but added explanatory plaques about Columbus and his legacy at the monument’s base.
Months later, New York State designated the statue as a historic landmark. Christopher Columbus’s future in New York is secure.