Members of Syracuse’s Columbus Monument Corporation say they are back at square one following a recent decision by the state's Court of Appeals.
Last month, the state's highest court denied a motion from the Columbus Monument Corporation to reargue the decision on whether the city of Syracuse can remove the Christopher Columbus statue in Downtown Syracuse.
Former State Senator John DeFrancisco, who is working to represent the Columbus Monument Corporation, said there is now no legal action they can take to stop the removal of the statue until the city begins a removal process.
“The attorneys basically just got a decision from the highest court of the state, and the highest court in the state said, the Appellate Division, the next Appellate Division, and the next, of course, after the trial court, determined that we were premature,” DeFrancisco said. “In other words, before we could try to stop something, it has to go further than it had gone.”
He said the fight will continue so long as the city moves forward with the statue’s removal.
“The courts have determined that the statue, they cannot, they ordered the mayor to leave the statue up because there's more procedures that have to be done in the city of Syracuse and those procedures include many hearings before many bodies,” DeFransisco said. “So we're back to square one. We didn't lose anything.”
Monument Corporation Vice President Nick Pirro said this is still only the beginning.
“The real fight has just begun,” Pirro said. “It's a fight for art. It's a fight for history. And it's a fight for heritage.”
Conversations on the statue's removal first began in 2020 after Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh announced intentions to remove the monument to make way for a new “Heritage Park.” The Columbus Monument Corporation is celebrating the monument’s 90th year this year.
