(The Center Square) — Outgoing New York Mayor Eric Adams is moving to protect a pair of Christopher Columbus statues amid threats from mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani, who has called for them to be toppled. 

Adams, who steps down at the end of the year after choosing not to run for reelection, told the New York Post that his administration plans to seek a historic designation for the Italian explorer’s monuments at Columbus Circle and Astoria’s Columbus Square to prevent them from being removed.