Schuyler statue removed from Albany City Hall

WNYT

By WNYT
Updated: 3 hours ago
Published: June 10, 2023 – 6:19 AM

A crew removed the statue of Gen. Philip Schuyler from outside Albany City Hall Saturday morning.

The statue had been in the same spot for nearly 100 years.

The crew was from Mullins Rigging of Green Island. They arrived around 5:15 a.m. By 8 a.m., they had managed to hoist the statue from its pedestal and loaded it onto a trailer. Then the pedestal and a plaque planted in the ground were removed.

Schuyler was a Revolutionary War hero, and one of the largest owners of enslaved people in Albany.

Mayor Kathy Sheehan first announced plans to move the statue in 2020 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. However, it stayed put for several more years.

Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan talks to workers as the statue of Gen. Philip Schuyler is loaded onto a trailer in front of City Hall on June 10, 2023.

Then in March 2023, Sheehan exclusively told NewsChannel 13 that the move would be coming in weeks.

It will cost around $40,000 to move the statue, the mayor said. Where it goes next is unclear. It will go into storage initially until a new location for the statue is determined.

The area outside Albany City Hall where the statue stood is undergoing a $16 million renovation to turn it into a pedestrian plaza. That price tag also includes a new roof on the building and shoring up the exterior.