Mayor Justin Elicker has appointed William Iovanne and Laura Luzzi as co-chairmen of the Wooster Square Monument Committee, a body that will meet for the first time Thursday. The committee will hold public and working meetings to discuss what will replace the Christopher Columbus statue that was removed from Wooster Square Park, reportedly to prevent further vandalism.

The issue divided the city between those who wanted it removed, given the historical accounts of Columbus ordering atrocities and the enslavement of Arawak tribe members, and those who viewed it as a tribute to Italian Americans, who commissioned and paid for the monument when it was erected in 1892.