Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said the city will rename Washington Park to honor Harriet Tubman and commission a statue of the abolitionist to replace the now-removed Christopher Columbus statue. The city removed the Columbus statue at nighttime in June, but one Italian-American group voiced displeasure with the lack of public discussion before it was taken down.

The announcement to rename the park to Tubman Square came Wednesday night during Baraka’s sixth state of the city address, which gave an update about the majority Black city’s progress. “This is just not window dressing,” Baraka said. “Newark played an important and integral role in the Underground Railroad and Harriet Tubman’s journeys to freedom led her to our city many times in that very area.”