Since 1934, the Columbus Monument has stood at Columbus Circle in Syracuse, New York
It’s history in the un-making.
The Onondaga Historical Association wants to “reimagine” Columbus Circle in Syracuse.
They want to re-imagine a Columbus Circle without the Columbus Monument, claims the Columbus Monument Corporation, an organization of Italian Americans and others in Syracuse who seek to preserve the Columbus Monument in Syracuse.
The Columbus Monument Corporation gears up for another battle in Syracuse. They are ready to win this as they have all others—against the previous mayor, against the university, against the media.
Italian Americans are called to action.
Get on your laptops! Get to your smart phones!
Send an email to the Onondaga Historical Association—to Lisa.Moore@CNYHistory.org. Tell them, to leave our history, alone. Tell them—we’re proud of Columbus. Tell them—we want the Columbus Monument to remain at Saint Mary’s Circle in Syracuse forever!
Since 1934, the Columbus Monument has stood at Columbus Circle in Syracuse, New York
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Going Round in Circles
This week, the Onondaga Historical Association announced a new initiative—“Full Circle Design” process.
Italian Americans see this as the newest attempt to tear down the city’s Columbus Monument.
Led by former county executive, Nicholas J. Pirro, the Columbus Monument Corporation convened a press conference yesterday in Syracuse. Recalling how they stopped Ben Walsh, Syracuse’s previous mayor, from tearing down Columbus, they went on offense against their latest antagonist—the Onondaga Historical Association.
The Columbus Monument Corporation issued the following statement:
“Here we go again! First they came at us through Interfaith Works, a supposedly ‘neutral’ moderator for Walsh’s three ‘Columbus Discussion Circles.’ They were anything but neutral. The entire Walsh process was a sham to drive a predetermined outcome. Now they are coming at us through the Onondaga Historical Association with their latest sham, the ‘Full Circle Design’ process.”
Nicholas J. Pirro, center, in blue, leading the way to preserve Columbus in Syracuse
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Minneapolis Redux?
The Columbus Monument Corporation has remained a constant effective force for Italian Americans.
While others have changed tactics, language, and strategy, the Columbus Monument Corporation has held to a simple principle: That the Columbus Monument is a lawful, historically significant work of public art that should be preserved in Syracuse.
Fighting to preserve the Columbus Monument since 2020, the group has seen it and heard it all. They have called out the Onondaga Historical Association (OHA) as an organization with an agenda to censor the past.
The Columbus Monument Corporation sees OHA’s “Full Circle Design” initiative as nothing more than a ruse to tear down the Columbus Monument. They issued a statement criticizing OHA’s effort to hire an outside firm—Forecast Public Art—to re-imagine Columbus Circle.
“OHA is…claiming to be ‘neutral.’ But OHA has stacked the deck to drive a predetermined outcome. Forecast Public Art, OHA’s paid consultant from Minnesota (of all places!), says this on the front of their website: ‘Join us in creating real, responsive changes to public art …that advance justice…in communities across the U.S.’”
NY Assembleyman Bill Magnarelli joins Columbus Day celebration at Columbus Circle in Syracuse
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Seedy Support to Quash Columbus
Syracuse is not a city lacking in historical expertise. It is home to scholars, preservationists, and civic leaders who understand the cultural and historical fabric of the region.
Why, then, bypass local voices?
As the Columbus Monument Corporation claims, outside consultants may be more inclined to support a predetermined vision—one that seeks to destroy the Columbus Monument in Syracuse. Outside money is also at play. The Columbus Monument Corporation noted the backing of the OHA by the Mellon Foundation.
“They are here to change Syracuse’s historic Columbus Circle, and for no other reason. The OHA secretively selected 9 nameless ‘curators’ to decide what all of Syracuse should want. Like Walsh, they stacked the deck against the Columbus Monument. And they are rushing through a predetermined outcome - to remove our historic monument. If you hear that The Mellon Foundation is ‘investing’ in Syracuse through the OHA, this is what it is all about - destroying historic monuments. They have done it in Boston…And they will do it to us, if we don’t stop them.”
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More Than a Statue
The 1934 sculpture by Giuseppe Baldi is not merely a tribute to Christopher Columbus. It is a tribute to the immigrant communities—Italian, Irish, Polish, Jewish, Ukrainian, and German—who helped build Syracuse and shape its identity.
To alter or remove the monument is to diminish that shared history.
The Columbus Monument Corporation has consistently emphasized the legal protections surrounding the site.
Columbus Circle is listed on the National Register of Historic Places—a designation that carries real implications. It is not symbolic. It is protective.
The Columbus Monument Corporation has been here before—and prevailed.
Past attempts to dismantle the monument failed because they ran up against both legal reality and public resistance. The current effort, though different in form, may ultimately face the same test.
For PRIMO, the issue remains straightforward.
We stand with the Columbus Monument Corporation. We stand with preservation. And we stand with the generations of Americans whose stories are carved—literally and figuratively—into that monument.
Editor’s Note: The web site for the Columbus Monument Corporation is https://columbusmonumentsyracuse.com
Make your voice heard. Please send an email to Lisa.Moore@CNYHistory.org and tell her to preserve the Columbus Monument in Syracuse.
READ HERE THE NEW EDITION - FIRST 2026 PRIMO
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