A statue of Philip Schuyler is removed from the front of Albany City Hall on June 10, 2023.
In front of historic City Hall in Albany, where for the past century the statue of Major General Philip J. Schuyler of George Washington’s Continental Army stood watch, there is now a small circular bed of what appear to be tulips not yet in bloom.
Not a field of poppies exactly, but akin. The general has fallen, again. Schuyler died 220 years ago.
The seven- or nine-foot statue, depending on accounts, has been stored "at an undisclosed location’’ to await who knows what fate, but most certainly a far cry from what was intended by philanthropist-beer baron George Hawley when he commissioned it a few years after the end of the war that would end all wars as a gift to the city. Schuyler, an Albanian, was highly regarded, both in his lifetime and beyond as an ardent patriot, a significant figure in our Revolution and a masterful politician, as befits Albany.
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After all, General Schuyler was staring up at the Capitol. Now who is going to keep an eye on them?
Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan has turned that gift into toxic waste. She has disrespected the historical figure, and the generosity of the statue’s sponsor. What a truly bad decision she made whimsically and unilaterally pulling down Schuyler’s statue.
This is a saga four years in the making, which is unbelievable, but at the same time quite revealing over time as to cause and intent. I’ve gotten into this fray late in the game only because I fear worse damage ahead for other statues and historic places in Albany.
Albany has one thing in abundance: history. Four hundred years of it, layers and layers and layers. So you’d think by now we would know how to handle it. The basics: Never judge historical figures or their actions by today’s attitudes or standards. If you judge them at all, do so within the context of their own times, through their eyes and words and deeds and those of their contemporaries.
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Nothing far out there at all. That did not happen for Major General Schuyler, the statue.
Mayor Sheehan’ s executive order for taking down the statue is dated June 11, 2020, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd that rightly stunned America, and ignited similar statue removals across the country. Her order stated in part, "Whereas the city’s decision to place a statue of Maj. Gen. Schuyler in front of City Hall ignored a grim aspect of his life, namely that he was reportedly the largest owner of enslaved people in Albany during his time … Whereas, Maj. Gen. Schuyler’s ownership of enslaved people is part of a broader, but often overlooked history of enslavement in New York, which had a population of more than 21,000 enslaved people during Schuyler’s lifetime; and whereas, the City of Albany is long overdue in confronting its history of racism and inequality …’’
Sheehan is reacting to the heat of the moment, and that is understandable. But she is drawing a conclusion that is grossly unfair to the historical man, Philip John Schuyler, tossing away all the brilliant preparation he made for the battle of Saratoga, which turned the tide of the Revolution, of work preparing the way for our age of canals, notably the Erie, for work on both the state and federal constitutions with which he was intimately involved.
He is reduced to simply and only an enslaver.
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Statues of perfect men are few. There is certainly a better time and place coming this year with the governor’s nine-member commission on reparations holding public hearings all over the state to air that which Sheehan is alluding to in terms of the legacy of enslavement. I want to believe that will be a very useful exercise for all New Yorkers, and enlightenment can come of it.
Ironically, with a bit of subtlety to the mayor’s approach, she could have gotten the same thing done without all the rancor, and even gotten applause.
As the statue of Lew Swyer on a park bench facing City Hall in Academy Park and I have said to each other many times over the years, the driving and walking in front of City Hall is right out of a stunt car movie. Moving Schuyler’s statue to create a far safer, more expansive entry area, probably radically redesigning the driving patterns, is reasonable.
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But that could only happen if all the planning was done as a whole, including finding the appropriate, respectful place to re-erect the major general. The mayor has even mentioned that driving and walking safety was good reason to move the statue. But here we are, four years later, and it is just as unsafe as ever, and the statue is in storage, which means there was no plan. And there will always be that language in her executive order that underlines her motivation.
Which brings me to my greater fear. The mayor has announced she is taking volunteer names to serve on a commission to consider where Schuyler should reside next, and to evaluate other statuary around the city. Heaven help us.
LeBrun: As a steward of history, Albany stumbled
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14.04.2024
A statue of Philip Schuyler is removed from the front of Albany City Hall on June 10, 2023.
In front of historic City Hall in Albany, where for the past century the statue of Major General Philip J. Schuyler of George Washington’s Continental Army stood watch, there is now a small circular bed of what appear to be tulips not yet in bloom.
Not a field of poppies exactly, but akin. The general has fallen, again. Schuyler died 220 years ago.
The seven- or nine-foot statue, depending on accounts, has been stored "at an undisclosed location’’ to await who knows what fate, but most certainly a far cry from what was intended by philanthropist-beer baron George Hawley when he commissioned it a few years after the end of the war that would end all wars as a gift to the city. Schuyler, an Albanian, was highly regarded, both in his lifetime and beyond as an ardent patriot, a significant figure in our Revolution and a masterful politician, as befits Albany.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
After all, General Schuyler was staring up at the Capitol. Now who is going to keep an eye on them?
Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan has turned that gift into toxic waste. She has disrespected the historical figure, and the generosity of the statue’s sponsor. What a truly........
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