David Lee strummed a guitar while sitting on his front porch in New Haven. He lives two blocks away from Wooster Square Park, where the city installed a new sculpture representing an Italian American immigrant family, replacing a controversial one of Christopher Columbus which was removed by the city. Lee understands why the old statue means so much to Italian Americans in the city, but a new sculpture is a chance for city residents to move on.

“Replacing the statue, it's a way that the community comes together,” Lee said. Others like Matthew Guarnieri, President of the Italian American Defense League, an advocacy group promoting Italian American culture in the city, wants the statue back and opposed the new sculpture, representing an Italian American immigrant family. The Columbus statue was removed in 2020 after a series of violent protests over the explorer’s controversial legacy.