Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh’s decision Friday to remove the statue of Christopher Columbus from downtown Syracuse was applauded by some and frowned by others in the community. Members of the Onondaga Nation applauded the decision. “I commend the mayor for taking this. It had to be quite a challenge for this. I know the Italian community might not agree,” said Tadodaho Sid Hill, a member of the Onondaga Nation.

Others are not ready to let the statue go and are angry at the timing of the decision just a few days from Columbus Day. “It’s a part of our lives, our psyche, the very blood and soul that we have as an Italian American community and also a Syracuse community,” said Bob Gardino, Secretary of the Columbus Monument Corporation Board. “What the mayor did is perhaps the most cruelest thing we would ever have expected.”