Group Calls For Return Of Flushing Remonstrance
BY LIZ GOFF

A U.S. Postage Stamp commemorating religious freedom and the Flushing Remonstrance.

A group of Queens activists is calling on Governor Eliot Spitzer to extend his "People's Government" to lend a hand in bringing the Flushing Remonstrance back to the borough where the historic document was penned some 350 years ago.

Historian David Oats is leading the charge to convince state officials to release the document from a site where it has been stored for more than three centuries

"They aren't holding the Remonstrance in a glass showcase," Oats said. "They have it stored in a vault, in a virtual prison-like setting, where the public is unable to even view it."

Oats, president of the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park World's Fair Association, said his group traveled to Albany to attend the inauguration of Governor Spitzer, where they petitioned the governor for the permanent return of the Flushing Remonstrance to the borough of Queens.

"We are calling on Governor Spitzer to keep his word to bring new passion to Albany by helping to end the state's nearly-threecentury stranglehold on the Remonstrance," Oats said.

Oats said after a successful three-year battle, state officials agreed to a "temporary release" of the Remonstrance in 1999, when the document was delivered to the Main Street branch of the Queens Borough Public Library for a public viewing.

"Teams of state troopers brought the Remonstrance to Queens in an armored vehicle, not unlike those used to transport prisoners," Oats said. "When the viewings were over, they returned it in the same vehicle."

Thousands of people lined up at the library to view the document while it was on display between November 1999 and late January 2000, Oats said. "The display was originally scheduled to end in December 1999, but it was extended through January 2000 to accommodate the thousands of people who wanted to view the document," Oats said.

"Our ultimate aim is for the Remonstrance to be returned to Queens, to be permanently displayed in the newly expanded and renovated Queens Museum of Art- in the very building that served two World's Fairs, in the very place where the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

To that end, Oats has already obtained approval of the Museum's Board of Trustees and its executive director.

"I feel [the Queens Museum] would be the finest 'temple' for the presentation and continuance of the Remonstrance," Oats said.

State officials turned down prior requests for transfer of the Remonstrance to Bowne House, the Flushing Armory or Flushing Town Hall for public viewings because they felt the locations could not properly store and secure the document, Oats said

Oats said the Queens Museum offers a safe environment and around-the-clock security for the frail document, as well as a suitable environment for public viewing. He argued that state officials should also reconsider the newly renovated Flushing Town Hall, since the building now boasts state-of-the-art security and storage facilities and was recently declared a subsidiary of the Smithsonian Institution.

Oats said the group may hit a roadblock in their negotiations with state officials for permanent return of the document, since the Queens Museum is about to undergo major renovations that may take up to two years to complete.

"We are aware that the state may use the renovations to turn down our request for permanent transfer of the Remonstrance to Queens," Oats said. "That's why we are, at this time, insisting that the Remonstrance be temporarily returned to Queens for viewing during the 2007 anniversary celebration, while we continue our fight to bring it home forever when the renovations are completed." The group is planning a series of events to commemorate this year's 350th Anniversary of the Flushing Remonstrance, including visits with schools and religious groups for discussions on the history of the document and its importance to Queens and the nation, Oats said.

The group is also planning to ask Congressmember Gary Ackerman to petition the U.S. Postal Service to reissue a 1957 stamp that commemorated the 300th anniversary of the Flushing Remonstrance, Oats said.

"We believe the reissue of this stamp would bring the history of the Flushing Remonstrance and our fight for its return to Queens to a national audience," Oats said.

The group has established a Web site where the public can read the entire text of the Flushing Remonstrance, or where they can sign a petition to Spitzer calling for the return of the document to Queens.

For more information on a series of yearlong events commemorating the 350th anniversary of the Flushing Remonstrance, to sign the petition, or to read the document in its entirety, visit www.flushingremonstrance. gov.