NYC Cancels Thomas Jefferson

A statue of the third president will likely be removed from City Hall.

Today, the New York Public Design Commission will vote to remove a statue of Thomas Jefferson from City Hall. The seven-foot tall bronze statue will be loaned to the New York Historical Society. Annette Gordon-Reed criticized the move.

Annette Gordon-Reed, a Harvard Law School professor and a Jefferson expert, objected to the idea of taking down the Jefferson statue, but described its likely move to the New-York Historical Society, where she serves as a trustee, as the best-case scenario.

"This represents a lumping together of the Confederates and a member of the founding generation in a way which I think minimizes the crimes and the problems with the Confederacy," Ms. Gordon-Reed said.

Later this year, the famous Theodore Roosevelt statue will be removed the Museum of Natural History.

Thankfully, Mt. Rushmore is not in Manhattan. At least three of the faces would be effaced.