‘Staff Error’ Led to Padlock on Bronx Home to Contested Columbus Statue, Says Parks Dept.

The city Department of Parks and Recreation says that “staff error” led to the repeated padlocking of a green space in the Little Italy section of The Bronx where petition-signers are demanding the city remove a statue of Christopher Columbus.

That statue has been assigned a police guard, the Norwood News reported earlier this month, with a two-person unit outside the D’Auria-Murphy Triangle since June — one of a number of NYPD posts at Columbus statues in the city, including at Columbus Circle.

The park has been locked when police are not at the scene, said Felix Cepeda, 39, a Castle Hill resident who started the petition last month to take down the bust, citing Columbus’ legacy of slavery and brutality in the Caribbean, long documented by historians.

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