Residents React to General Philip Schuyler Statue Taken Down

Going past Albany City Hall looks different now; a blue tarp covers where General Philip Schuyler’s statue stood for nearly 100 years.

Some people like the change. One woman even called the removal of the statue a monumental moment.

“It feels good,” Melissa Dupin said, who lives in the Capital Region. “The people have been listened to {snip}”

“I’m just happy it got taken down if the history behind it is not something that should be celebrated,” Jack Taylor said.

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Removing the Schuyler statue has been in the works for several years. During the pandemic, a teen program with the Underground Railroad Education Center was called by Mayor Kathy Sheehan.

Sheehan posed the question: what to do with Phil?

Mary Liz Stewart is the Executive Director and Co-founder of the education center.

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“One of the things that were very important for the teens about moving the Schuyler statue was the fact that, from their perspective, city hall should be a place that’s welcoming to everybody in the community, and it was hard to say that was the case with Phil standing there,” Stewart said.