The Buffalo Common Council voted unanimously Tuesday to rename Columbus Park, which is located along Porter Avenue and Niagara Street, to Prospect Park. The Christopher Columbus statue was removed from the park in July on orders from Mayor Byron Brown and agreement of the common council.
The Federation of Italian-American Societies of Western New York requested to have the statue taken down so it would not be a distraction to the social justice movement currently underway and to protect the statue from damage. Across the nation, several Columbus statues have been targeted for destruction because of Columbus's controversial history concerning the treatment of indigenous peoples.
