A statue of Thomas Jefferson has been taken down from City Hall after 187 years.
On Monday, November 22, the 884-pound statue was packed away after a majority voted for it to be taken down in a mayoral commission.
It took several hours and around a dozen workers from Marshall Fine Arts for the monument to be removed from the City Council chambers in New York.
The statue of the Founding Father had been on display since 1833, until conflict around the statueโs presence arose due to Jeffersonโs links to the slave trade.
The press was initially blocked from seeing the statueโs removal by Keri Butler, the executive director of the Public Design Commission, despite his vote to have it taken down. However, the City Council and members of the mayorโs office revoked the attempted obstruction, New York Post reports.
A public hearing was not initially planned to discuss the vote for the statueโs removal, however after The Post revealed the commissionโs attempt to vote without one, a hearing was eventually organised.
