NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — The Parks Department removed a controversial statue Tuesday from Central Park.
After 84 years in Central Park, the granite base of the statue of Dr. J. Marion Sims is now empty. The statue was taken down with little fanfare and carted off in a Parks Department truck, CBS2’s Marcia Kramer reported.
The move was part of the decision by Mayor Bill de Blasio with input from the city’s Monument Commission.
A sign left behind read: “By order of Mayor Bill de Blasio, NYC Parks has relocated the statue of Dr. James Marion Sims to Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, where Sims is buried. Plans are being developed to commission a new monument on this site.”
Sims, who has been referred to as “the father of gynecology,” performed surgical experiments of female slaves without anesthesia.
Of all the controversial city statues considered by the commission in their review, Sim’s monument is the only one being moved.
“We are just excited by the decision of the commission and also by the decision of the mayor,” the commission’s John Calvelli said in January.
During the intense public debate, several statues were defaced, including the Theodore Roosevelt statue in front of the Museum of Natural History and a smaller statue of Christopher Columbus.
