Columbus Square

Astoria Blvd S., Hoyt Ave. S. bet. 31 St. and 32 St.

Queens

Directions via Google Maps

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

This triangle, like so many sites in New York and around the country, honors Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), whose discoveries have been celebrated for more than 500 years.

The City acquired this land on July 19, 1910, and since the 1920s Italian-Americans of Queens have gathered here to celebrate Columbus. The Board of Aldermen, on April 1, 1930, named the site for the famed explorer. The Italian Chamber of Commerce installed a bronze tablet here on October 12, 1937, indicating its intention to build a full monument to Columbus. In 1938, with funds from the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Italian sculptor Angelo Racioppi was commissioned to create the seven foot tall bronze of a youthful Christopher Columbus standing in front of a ship’s tiller.

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