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Columbus monument on Astoria Boulevard sprayed with anti-genocide markings

Christopher Columbus monument at Columbus Triangle in Astoria

Aug. 31, 2017 By Nathaly Pesantez

A Christopher Columbus monument on Astoria Boulevard has been sprayed with blue letters displaying anti-genocide expressions.

The monument at Columbus Triangle, right off the Astoria Boulevard station and bordered by Astoria Boulevard South, Hoyt Avenue South, and 33rd Street, had several markings dripping down the white of the monument’s stone base that read “Don’t Honor Genocide” and “Take it Down”.

The statue of Columbus itself above the white base did not appear to be marked with graffiti.

It is unclear when the markings initially appeared, although social media users began posting about the graffiti early Thursday morning.

The NYPD said as of Thursday afternoon that they do not have anything on file regarding the incident.

The Astoria Post has reached out to the Parks Department about the incident but has yet to get a response.

The graffiti at Columbus monument in Astoria follows an incident in Yonkers where a 2-foot statue of Columbus was split apart after it was knocked down by vandals.

Columbus statues and monuments have been in the spotlight recently after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city will conduct a 90-day review of “all symbols of hate” on city property. Critics have called for the removal of statues dedicated to Columbus, and Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said the city should take a look at the Christopher Columbus structure at Columbus Circle for potential consideration.

The statue of Christopher Columbus at the Astoria triangle was unveiled in 1941 in a ceremony that included 5,000 people. Money to build the stone base was raised after World War II, and the statue was permanently installed at the triangle.

Christopher Columbus monument at Columbus Triangle in Astoria

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81 Comments

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Mr g

Not the slight proof he was Italian and national geographic documentary proved that and still they celebrate him as Italian. Not a hero to many devastated native American inhabitants. As a Spanish descendant I feel bad but at least latins married the Indians

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Anonymous

Would you prefer a statue up of John Astor, or even a so-called police officer from the 114th as a statue right next to that small park? Either you respect the historical effect of a statue there, or just go out and educate yourself about Columbus himself. Find out why he was a major impact in Astoria, to begin with.

“Speak for yourself. Don’t be like sheep”- Rick and Morty, Season 1.

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M

I knew there were communist sympathizers on here. Go move to North Korea and leave the rest of us alone!

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trashit

I would compare Columbus to Charles Lindberg, another exceptionally daring explorer who accomplished the near impossible and is rightly forgotten due to the other unfortunate aspects of his philosophy. They would have made fine company for each other, no doubt, but neither is suitable as an object of national celebration in 2017.

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jeremiah

Columbus enslaved and mutilated native people. That is one major reason people think statues of him is very wrong.

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anthony

What about replacing this statue with a saute of The Cadillac Man from Astoria. Thomas Wagner is probably the most famous homeless person from the borough. I think he now lives in George T. Douris Tower which is so close to this area and was homeless for years on Ditmars.

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Albina

Columbus is a large point of pride for Italian Americans and was an important galvanizing figure during the integration of Italian immigrants in the United States. Its difficult for me to dismiss that (possibly misguided) pride as someone who is not of Italian descent. I can absolutely see why people are upset about Columbus being attacked as a figure whom which we should no longer honor, but I don’t necessarily disagree with that sentiment.

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elen

I realize that Columbus is not really a figure to look up to in any regard; he didn’t actually land in what is now considered the US at any point and was pretty barbaric in his time in the Americas.

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santana

I´m from Hispaniola (currently Dominican Republic) and we don´t even ¨celebrate¨ Columbus day, we celebrate the date of diversity (Día de la Raza) to cherish the mixture of cultures and to honor those massacred. They even were fed to dogs and enslaved. Of the original aborigines of the island (Tainos) none remain today. It was a genocide covered by shame.

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roman

Columbus was a monster in moral terms. But you cannot say he was historically unimportant simply because “the Vikings got there first.” The Vikings kept there discovery secret, whereas Columbus (for better or worse) triggered the greatest mass migration in human history.

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tired

There are more dislikes than likes on almost every single comment on this post containing anything true or factual about this man. Like they’re denying history lol. Every time a black person is posted on this website there are tons of racist and inflammatory posts filled with tons of coded language and racial remarks. Whenever a hate crime happens around here they “wanna hear the other side of the story” and complain about us playing the race card. I see tons of blatant islamaphobia on here too. And then they wanna tell us they’re not white supremacists lol ?

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final

All you need to know about Columbus can be gleaned from one entry in his diary.

“They were very well built, with very handsome bodies and very good faces,” Columbus wrote in his diary. “They do not carry arms or know them….They should be good servants.”

TAKE THAT STATUE DOWN!

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hector

In October, we honor Christopher Columbus, who opened the Atlantic slave trade and launched one of the greatest waves of genocide known in history.

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ethan

Just weld a mustache to it and say it’s Captain Crunch or stay with the Italian theme and say its Super Mario.

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raymond

1. Columbus landed on “U.S.” soil: False
2. Columbus was kind to the Native Americans: False
3. Columbus was Italian: False
4. His name was really Christopher Columbus: False
5. Columbus proved the world was round: False
People need to learn the truth.

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JOHN DePalma

Cristoforo Columbo was Italian. Maybe you need to learn the truth?
He also never claimed to land on US soil.
His voyages led to the first lasting European contact with the Americas, inaugurating a period of exploration, conquest, and colonization that lasted several centuries. These voyages thus had an enormous effect on the historical development of the modern Western world.
Learning is pretty cool, huh?

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nancy

Back then there was no Italy. Columbus was born in the Republic of Genoa, a maritime republic with an aristocracy descended from 11th Century rulers of Castile and Leon. Columbus was ‘never an Italian’ because Genoa wasn’t Italy, and spoke Spanish because that was the lingua franca of traders in the HRE successor-states… No letter by Columbus in any Italian dialect has ever been found.

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Artists, what say you?

A whole new world of statue exploration and appreciation.So many of us have walked right past all these statues,for years. Now it seems none of them are safe.At the very least, they were creations by artists.Doesnt that mean anything?Seems wrong to just “eliminate”them…NYC is examining all of this right now.Will there be a graveyard for unwanted.statues? (Maybe Sunnyside Yards,lol).That is not to say we shouldnt have plaques,etc, teaching us more about who we are looking at, absolutely.There should be more statues, as a matter of fact( though Brandon’s suggestion made us laugh).

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mor

Good riddance. Columbus did nothing. He wasn’t the first to reach North America. He wasn’t the one who figured out “the world was round”. He didn’t find the Indies. He was a poor sailor and he only salvaged his expeditions by kick-starting the slave trade. He didn’t do much worthy of being honored.

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quazi

LOL. I’ve long advocated a compromise solution where the statues were moved out of municipalities (particularly urban liberal ones) that don’t want them, and shipped to white supremacist Trump-supporter areas where they can be venerated.

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Harry

The statue is up to commemorate columbus’ contribution to the opening of the Western Hemisphere something that has benefited ALL of you, even minorities through time. It’s not there to commemorate a perfect person. He didn’t invent slavery! Slavery is an unfortunate extension of war and imperialism and something virtually no society is immune to, even non white societies. There is no end to this can of worms. The Europeans who settled here were an extension of the monarchies and their practices. Because there was an opportunity for a new world so to speak, it allowed for society to progress and liberty and freedom to be reborn again albeit not right away. I can make the case that if not for Columbus the world would be worse off today!

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Lani

I don’t get why that statue of him is there in the first place. Columbus was a genocidal maniac and vindictive tyrant.

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JOHN DePalma

Uh, hello. Columbus was an explorer. That’s why his statue is there. While many believed the world was flat, he petitioned multiple Countries for the chance to prove that wrong. We should applaud his success. Many people have wronged many people throughout history. That doesn’t tarnish their accomplishment.

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gary

I think what offends people aren’t the statues themselves, but the mythos surrounding them. If they put up a plaque next to the statue that said “Responsible for the rape, pillaging and decimation of a people who were primitive and peaceful by his own account” then maybe folks would begin to wonder why there’s a statue there in the first place…

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Anonymous

Read your American Indian history, it’s not so beautiful either. Camanche tribe read about them, far from peaceful.

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Harry Adams

Dream on. Your 4% of the population does not represent us all. As for the statue, name one statue of anyone that did not have to be involved in killing or conquering? Washington had slaves, so take him down too? That was was 250 years ago. Get over it. Us Greeks and Armenians were slaves to the Turks for 400 years. And the Turks and UN still won’t acknowledge that fact.

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brandon

Astoria has a large gay community. I say we represent it once the mayor tears this Columbus statue down. Hang the LGBT pride flag or a statue of someone gay and famous there. I think it would be great and good publicity for our neighborhood.

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zik

Yep, there really shouldn’t be any question about Columbus and the atrocities that he committed. He is not a man deserving of honor!!!

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Never Left Astoria

“The 114 did not have anything on file regarding the incident”. It’s a block away!!

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REAL NEW YORK TALK OVA HEA

https://instagram.com/p/BYcEn0sALmk/
Check out this link. That’s a real New Yorker speaking a long time ago. What a smart man he was. Unfortunate this city, especially Astoria is being inundated with ugly, ignorant, American sheep. Sheep that just follow. Keep watching the news, “lies”. Keep protesting. “Wasted energy”. Keep dividing America. “Great job guys the world is laughing”. And the ones who are laughing the most, are the people who are controlling you like puppets on a string. That would be the people who were in control until Trump got elected !!!

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Bruno

-Real NY Thanks for the informative and hilarious link to George Carlin. I agree with not erecting statues glorifying traitors and criminals on public lands which the Confederates were. I don’t agree with the removal of statues of Columbus. He is responsible for the European mass migration to the Americas and that is what the the statues are meaning to commentate. Yes, the atrocities commited against the indigenous peoples should not be over looked or forgotten. If we only gave statues to the “pure and righteous” there would be no statues because the perfect human has not been born yet. “He without sin cast the first stone. “

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lisa

If you ask a Native American, they will tell you exactly who Columbus was. Remove that statue from ASTORIA!

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Jimbo

Hi Lisa. Just wondering if you’ll be celebrating thanksgiving ?? After all nothing was given to America. It was taken.

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Joe Vadis

You people have no idea what you’re babbling about. You spew the revisionist vomit you hear other spew and do it because it’s in vogue today. Tomorrow you’ll be spewing some other stupidity. You are all so vacuous!

You want to know the real Christopher Columbus? Go to Google Scholar and find his handwritten diary from his first voyage. It’s there, in the original alongside typed Portuguese and English. It depicts a completely different man than the one the cretins and boorishly ignorant snowflakes of the hour like to portray as authentic.

Think for yourselves for once in your pathetically small minded existences! Stop being lemmings.

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jerry

Wow! I didn’t know how bad Columbus was until i took the time to google it! Thanks for sharing the real history!

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Choochie mama

COLOMBUS WAS A GREAT MAN. A HERO. A LEADER. WE SHOULD GO BACK TO THOSE TIMES. THERE WOULD BE NO CRIME .

rose

It so funny that Chris Columbus genocide is such an open and shut case with just the basic of historical documents. He was tried, convicted, and punished in HIS OWN TIME! It is quite crazy how he is celebrated today. He is quite possible the most evil person in human history.

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steve

columbus was a criminal.Not only did he kiill,and maim countless native americans,his voyage were the precursor of one the heinous events in american history.The african slave trade

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Carly Menkin Bieber

Perhaps the statue should be removed, placed in the Queens museum with a fair description, and then a monument to the many immigrants that have made Astoria such a beautiful neighborhood can go up in it’s place?

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Anonymous

No that wouldn’t be appropriate. That’s years of history down the drain. Consider what protesters and city officials want to do with the Columbus statue in Columbus Park several months back. Now they want to do the same thing here because of Columbus’ controversial history. What is is this world coming to? Why can’t people just educate themselves and learn what’s going on today?

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GetOutOfAstoria

Awww all the yuppies and poor snowflakes feelings are being hurt by statues that have been around for YEARSSSS. They were here when Obama was in office, why not make a stink about it back then? That’s okay, just go to your safe place and everything will be okay =)

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