City officials in New Haven took down the Christopher Columbus statue in Wooster Square last month and a meeting that was to be held this week to begin discussing what should replace it to honor Italian heritage will be scheduled for a later date.
New Haven is one of several cities in towns in Connecticut, as well as the nation, to remove statues honoring Columbus as well as others amid calls for racial justice.
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said the co-chairs of the Wooster Square Monument Committee, Bill Iovanne and Laura Luzzi, will lead the committee to host public and working meetings to discuss what will replace the Columbus statue. A meeting was planned for tonight, but it will be rescheduled due to "some key absences," according to the mayor's office.
“These members of the community have stepped up in this challenging time, and it is important that we, as a community, come together and appropriately honor Italian-American heritage in New Haven’s history,” Elicker said in a statement.
