NYC schools try compromise on Columbus Day, displeasing some KAREN MATTHEWS, Associated Press FacebookTwitterEmail NEW YORK (AP) — In a possibly futile effort to please both Italian Americans who celebrate Christopher Columbus and racial justice advocates who accuse him of genocide, the New York City public school system has designated Oct. 11 as Italian Heritage Day/Indigenous People’s Day. The double-naming of the school holiday happened Tuesday after a calendar for the 2021-2022 school year was initially posted with Oct. 11, which is Columbus Day, a state holiday, labeled simply Indigenous Peoples' Day. The change, which was made without the knowledge of the city's mayor, drew swift condemnation from elected officials, including Democratic state senators Diane Savino and Joe Addabbo, who called the renaming of Columbus Day “block-headed" and said it did “terrible disservice to a difficult and complex conversation.”