Los Angeles did it. So did Minneapolis and Austin. Now activists are hoping they can add New York to the list of cities that have dropped Columbus Day in favor of Indigenous Peoples Day.
Valerie Rivera, who says she's from the Taíno nation, wants New Yorkers to "open their eyes and realize that they're honoring a murderer, a rapist, a man who was horrible," she said, of Christopher Columbus.
Roberto Mukaro Borrero, the president of the United Confederation of Taíno People, urged Italian-Americans to honor another explorer, like Amerigo Vespucci, after whom America was named.
"Why should they have to use a symbol of oppression to make their statement?" asked Chief Borrero. "It doesn't make sense to us."
But in midtown Manhattan, Theo Mantzikos said keeping Columbus Day can serve an important purpose.
"Identifying that somebody's done something wrong in a different time and place allows us to say we're not going to tolerate that in today's environment going forward for us," he explained.
Upper East Siders Nick Nicholas and Lisa Bernstein think the opposition to Columbus is misguided. "It's part of our history," said Nicholas.
"Where do we stop?" asked Bernstein. "I mean, was George Washington such a great guy? Was Benjamin Franklin honestly such a great guy?"
"They all had slaves," added Nicholas.
Meanwhile, Mayor Bill de Blasio has appointed a commission that's studying "symbols of hate" such as controversial statues including the one of Christopher Columbus in Manhattan. Its first meeting is scheduled for Tuesday.
