Cuomo & Columbus



Governor Andrew Cuomo offered a lengthy defense of honoring Christopher Columbus this morning, arguing that the Columbus Circle statue of Columbus and the Columbus Day Parade are more about honoring Italian-American heritage than Columbus himself.  Tying the discussion about Columbus to the broad theme of celebrating diversity and the celebrations of other cultures, Cuomo rejected the notion of removing the Columbus statue.  Acknowledging that Columbus did “bad acts to indigenous people,” Cuomo rejected the effort at removal as excessive.  He offered a counter concern of “where do you stop, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington … who is without sin” while saying that “the indigenous people should be celebrated.”