Tampering With City History
In a world with too many problems to count, artwork and public access at two city landmarks may seem, on the surface, unimportant. However, they tell a broader tale about the city’s leadership and an apparent apathy toward New York’s history.
Recently, the de Blasio administration announced it would swap out some of the portraits on display at City Hall, which has a vast art collection featuring many important figures in this city’s foundation.
A mayoral spokesperson, cited in one publication, stated the administration wants to replace the portraits with artwork that “should reflect the vibrant diversity of New York City, and discussions on how to update the building’s collection to celebrate that diversity.”
The City Hall collection consists of a vast roster of people who helped shape New York City into the grand metropolis it is today. No less than five presidents are included (George Washington, the only president inaugurated in New York; Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren), as are a slew of former mayors; first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Jay; former Gov. DeWitt Clinton, who led the developments of the Manhattan street grid and the Erie Canal; and Henry Hudson, the English explorer who discovered what would become New York in 1609.
These portraits honor individuals who made tremendous contributions to the city’s greatness, but because they do not “reflect” the city’s current diversity, some of these portraits will be taken off of City Hall’s walls and locked away in a vault somewhere.
If the de Blasio administration finds the collection lacking in diversity, it should correct the disparity by adding works of art, not subtracting what is already there. We can’t change the profiles of historical figures, nor deny their importance, to reflect the changing landscape. Every one of these individuals, however minor, made an impact here that should be celebrated, not shunned.
Over at Gracie Mansion, New York City’s equivalent of the White House, something just as discouraging is happening. Tours of the historic Upper East Side mansion, previously held on Wednesdays and Saturdays, have been scrapped since the de Blasio family moved there in June.
During the 1940s, Gracie Mansion-owned by New York City since 1896-became the official residence of the mayor, with Fiorello LaGuardia as its first tenant. Over the decades that followed, the city and the Gracie Mansion Conservancy funded regular renovations to the landmark, which became a center gathering place for the mayor and power brokers alike.
After Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office in 2002, he declined to reside at Gracie Mansion and instead transformed it into the “People’s House,” offering greater access to the public and city agencies. When the de Blasios moved there this year-as is their prerogative-the city paid in excess of $145,000 to relocate the family from Brooklyn and convert much of the mansion back to residential use.
We have no problem with Mayor de Blasio and his family living in Gracie Mansion for the duration of his tenure, nor do we have a problem with the city installing additional measures for the family’s security. But Gracie Mansion is public property, and while the living quarters should be off-limits, the rest of the landmark should be kept open to the public for tours and events, however limited they may be.
Mayors come and go, but City Hall and Gracie Mansion belong to the people of New York, not one person or one administration. Neither their construction nor public access should be constrained by any mayor’s personal politics or sense of privilege. They are an integral part of our city’s history, and woe to us if that history is ever revised.
