![]() ![]() The mayor's outside communications adviser, Libby Post, said in a text she was "not authorized to talk about this." They have both declined to respond to questions from the Times Union about the matter for weeks. The city said its release could "endanger the life and safety of an individual" - though it did not specify who that person was.ĭavid Galin, the mayor's chief of staff, and Sheehan, who in mid-March said the removal of the statue would occur in "a matter of weeks," did not respond to a request for comment Friday evening. Sheehan's administration had refused to answer questions about the matter, and earlier this week denied a Freedom of Information Law request for the engineering report called for in the mayor's initial order. On Friday morning, the Times Union published a story examining the three years that have passed since Sheehan - just weeks after the killing of George Floyd sparked a national dialogue on racial inequality - issued an order saying the city should begin the process of removing the statue "as soon as possible." Sunday marks the anniversary of that 2020 order. Roberts June 10, 2023Ībout the only clue that anything was to happen Saturday morning was a number of no-parking signs seen late Friday around the statue. Philip Schuyler from his spot in front of City Hall - three years after Mayor Kathy Sheehan ordered its removal. Workers early this morning removed the statue of Maj. "But nobody is calling for Washington Avenue or Washington Park in Albany to be renamed." It was unquestionably wrong," Perlee wrote. "This isn’t to say that Schuyler was a perfect historical figure. ![]() In a statement Saturday morning, Albany County Legislator Jeff Perlee decried the statue's removal as "erasing our local history," and noted other historical American figures, such as President George Washington, also owned slaves. An April Times Union story noted the 9-foot tall bronze depiction of the politician and father-in-law of Alexander Hamilton may have maps, photographs, coins and other memorabilia of the city encased in a time capsule dating back to the unveiling in 1925. If there is one, it could be well-encased. What was still a mystery Saturday morning was where a time capsule might be located. Traffic flow, without the statue’s former island of land in the middle of a five-street intersection, would be improved. She also said the front of City Hall will be renovated to make it more pedestrian-friendly. We think it will be Academy Park, where we are standing right now, but it is one of the suggested places,” she said of the park along Washington Avenue across the street from where the Schuyler statue once stood. “That commission will determine where the statue will go next. Sheehan said she proposed an Albany Monument Commission, currently before the City Council, for consideration. For now, it will be placed in storage until a new home is found. ![]() The statue was placed on a flatbed trailer and driven away. We have to figure out how we contextualize that and tell the whole story.”Ī crane hoisted the statue off its foundation with hardly any resistance and the base was lifted off in the same manner. “While this is a person who did great things in history, and is rightly remembered for all of his amazing accomplishments, he is also a man who enslaved dozens of African Americans. But ultimately this is about listening to our residents,” she said. “I understand people’s strong feelings about this and these decisions are never easy. Schuyler was a significant military and political figure in the Revolutionary era, but also one of the region's most prodigious enslavers of Black people. Sheehan acknowledged the strong emotions on both sides of the issue and said it was one reason for removing the statue at a time when few were out of bed, let alone in downtown Albany.
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