NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The City Hall statue of Thomas Jefferson will find a new home inside an Upper West Side private museum after the Public Design Commission unanimously voted to oust the 188-year-old monument over his slave ownership and beliefs.
The New York Post reports the commission will meet Monday to discuss a long-term loan of the statue to the New York Historical Society, despite earlier concerns the $22 adult admission fee at the privately-run institution would limit some.
Commission President Signe Nielsen and others at first rejected the Historical Society move and reportedly proposed relocating the statue of the nation's third president to a different part of City Hall or the New York Public Library.
However, documents show members became reluctant to the switch noting the museum's "pay-as-you-go" admission on Friday evenings and its placement in the lobby for “approximately six months” — would allow more to see it — until the statue is eventually moved in the corner of a reading room.
"We’re confident the statue will land in an accessible location that puts Jefferson’s legacy in its full historical context," said mayoral spokesperson Mitch Schwartz to the Post.
Democratic Councilman Daneek Miller said the plan was always to move the historic statue to the Historical Society and the commission was opening a "Pandora's box" by debating other locations.
“I just really felt that it was kind of an oxymoron in the people’s house to have someone who really did not respect the values of those that were in there now,” said Miller, who represents Queens.
Todd Fine, a preservation activist, told the Post the movement to a private institution is the result of political pressure.
"The Design Commission already acknowledged that it was wrong to give this invaluable public artwork to a private entity," he said. "This inexplicable reversal has questionable legality and smacks of political pressure."
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