Councilman Jorge Cruz watched last week as New Haven and Hartford moved ahead with taking down statues of Christopher Columbus and wondered, why not here? “He don’t deserve to be honored with a statue at Seaside Park,” Cruz said of the monument to the Genoese explorer that has stood in his South End district since the mid-1960s. “I’ve had animosity toward that statue for many, many years.”

Cruz cited Columbus’ arrival in Puerto Rico in 1493 and the subsequent European subjection of the natives. As yet, his effort has, at least so far, not received a groundswell of support. Cruz said he has been unable to reach fellow Democrat Mayor Joe Ganim, who also did not return requests for comment for this story.