New York State Assemblyman Charles Lavine, a Democrat, has written an open letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo asking him to rename a state park that currently bears the moniker of GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump.
Levine tweeted out his open letter to Cuomo on Wednesday in which he hinted at Trump's recent comments that all Muslim immigration should be put on hold amid terrorism concerns.
While America values free speech, Lavine notes, it also values freedom of religion, and the state should take action to distance itself from Trump's statement, which was viewed as racist by his critics.
Lavine suggests naming the park, instead, for Peter Salaam, a freed slave who helped with the fight against the British during the Revolutionary War. Salaam was Muslim.
Salaam played "meaningful roles" in the battles of Bunker Hill and Concord, Lavine said, and also fought at Saratoga and Stony Point in New York. The park is 21 miles from Stony Point, Lavine said.
Lavine has been joined in the effort by State Sen. Daniel Squadron,
ABC News reports.
The two say they will push legislation to rename the park.
Trump donated that land to the state in 2006 after a golf development deal fell through. It was closed in 2010, but the signs marking it remain.
ABC quoted a Trump spokeswoman as saying the state cannot remove his name.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.