'You Have My Apologies.' BPC Chief Calls Monument Site a Mistake.

George Tsunis, Battery Park City Authority chairman, meets with residents Thursday in Rockefeller Park to announce that he, along with Gov. Cuomo, agree that the Essential Workers Monument should be located at a site that doesn't disrupt active play or require cutting down trees. Photo (from video) courtesy of the Battery Park City Parents Association

Citing the backing of Gov. Cuomo, Battery Park City Authority Chairman George Tsunis announced Thursday that the planned monument to essential workers, the target of protests for the past week in Rockefeller Park, will be moved to another location. 

“I wish we had done this sooner,” Tsunis told residents gathered at the site Cuomo had designated for the $3 million “Circle of Heroes” monument. “I can’t go backwards. You have my apologies.”

Under pressure from local residents and elected officials, Cuomo retreated from the chosen location, announced June 23, which would have meant displacing nearly a quarter of an acre of Rockefeller Park green space, including the removal of six mature trees in one of the shadiest sections of the park.

A remote public Community Board 1 meeting to discuss a new location is planned for July 7.

Tsunis recalled a mother telling him, “‘Hey George, I picnic, I play with my kids here.’ You know, that resonates. I’m a father. When there are other alternatives that we can go to, we pivot.” 

In choosing the Rockefeller Park site, Tsunis said, the priority had been to preserve the open lawn area of the park to the north. This time around, the criteria would be “nowhere near where kids play, much more commercial area, not taking down trees.”

“We’re analyzing some suitable locations and one or two of them are really spectacular,” Tsunis said. “I’m really confident that most of you are going to really get behind it.”

Tsunis, a major contributor to Cuomo’s re-election campaign, said the governor told him the monument could be moved “as long as we can find a more suitable location. Not everyone is going to be happy.” 

Labor Day is still the deadline for completion of the project, Tsunis said. 

“We’re satisfied that they finally came to the community, that’s what we wanted from the beginning,” said Lee Pham, who was among those who met with Tsunis in the park. Pham added that he’s hopeful the conversations remain open, leading to a monument “that honors our essential workers [and] is decided in a way that honors also the wishes of the residents and even the visitors of the park.” 

Gregory Sheindlin, another resident who protested Cuomo’s actions, called the reversal “a wonderful step in the right direction,” adding “We are remaining vigilant that the process keeps moving in the proper direction.” 

The design for the “Circle of Heroes” calls for 19 new maple trees encircling curved benches, with an “eternal flame” and two flag poles at the center.

With bulldozers and chainsaws at the ready Monday morning, June 28, dozens of the protesters stepped over a low orange fence and into the off-limits work zone, spreading blankets beneath the soon-to-be-toppled shade trees. That won them a pause in the work, and the chance for a few families to pitch tents and continue a 24-hour vigil through the week to prevent the planned construction of a heavy perimeter fence.

“We were the sentinels to make sure no work happened late at night,” said Sheindlin, who camped out with his two daughters Monday night. “And we realized how much it inspired others to come, participate, and ask, Why would these people who own a nice apartment across the street sleep in the park?”

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