News Of The Neighborhoods
COMPILED BY LIZ GOFF

Photo by Russell Sujak Corinne Oats and Greg Godfrey of the Flushing Remonstrance Committee, look over a final draft of the 21st Century Flushing Remonstrance for its signing on Dec. 27, the 350th anniversary of the original signing of the historic 1657 doc ment.

Flushing Meadows-Corona Park #2 In Major Crimes

According to a recently released Police Department Park Crimes Report, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park came in second in the number of major crimes reported in city parks over the summer of 2007.

The report, which lists crimes reported for the first three quarters of 2007 ending September 30, shows a total of 43 crimes were reported in Flushing Meadows- Corona Park.

A total of 21 complaints were recorded in the park from July 1 to September 30, compared with nine complaints at Brooklyn's Prospect Park and seven complaints for The Bronx Park.

Police officials said the crime statistics for Flushing Meadows-Corona Park were an aberration, the result of a crime spree by two individuals who terrorized the Queens park last fall and winter.

Call For '21st Century Remonstrance' Signers

The Flushing Remonstrance returns to the State Archives in Albany this week after spending a month on display at the Flushing Library.

As the Remonstrance makes its way back to Albany, a group of Queens activists are circulating a "21st Century Renewal Remonstrance", citing the document's importance to Queens and calling for its permanent return to the borough.

David Oats, chairman of the Flushing Remonstrance Committee, told the Gazette the 21st Century Remonstrance reaffirms the commitment of those brave citizens who signed the original document. "It will also appeal to another governor, Eliot Spitzer, to assist in bringing the Remonstrance back to the place of its birth," said Oats.

The Flushing Remonstrance, signed by 30 residents of Flushing, guaranteed religious freedom in the colonies. "Just as those brave citizens demanded religious freedom from Governor Peter Stuyvesant, we are asking Spitzer to grant freedom for the Remonstrance to leave its vault in Albany and return to Flushing, for good", Oats said.

Oats said the group hopes to persuade Spitzer to intervene with officials at the State Archives, "who have the power to return the Remonstrance to the people of Queens". The document should be on permanent display at the Queens Museum of Art, where people from all walks of life can view it.

Oats is urging supporters to sign the Renewal Remonstrance when they join in a candlelight walk on January 10 that will take-in Flushing historic sites including the Bowne House. The walk kicks off at 7 p.m. at Flushing H.S., 35-01 Union St.

Supporters are also urged to go online to www.flushingremonstrance.org to sign the petition. Supporters may sign the Renewal Remonstrance until June 29, when Oats and his group plan to follow the document to Albany, where they will deliver the petitions to Spitzer's office.

Oats said the state has agreed to return The Remonstrance for display at the Queens Museum from April 6 through June 29. "We are aware that the State Archives won't budge on their refusal to return The Remonstrance to Queens. So it is up to Governor Spitzer to do the right thing."