By LIZ GOFF and linda wilson
David Oats,  journalist, borough historian and watchdog of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, died late on Tuesday, February 5. He was 58 years old.

Oats served three stints in the course of a 30-year career as the managing editor of the Queens Tribune. He also fought tirelessly for a number of Queens causes, most related to the history and preservation of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

“While we at the Parks Department are deeply committed to the green spaces under our care, it is advocates like David Oats who push us to be even better stewards,” Department of Parks and Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe said. “For decades he dedicated himself to the park he loved and fought on all levels to preserve its World’s Fair history and keep it the green gem of Queens. Flushing Meadows-Corona Park is better today for his lifelong efforts and we at the Parks Department thank him. We share his devotion to the park and hope to honor his memory for decades to come with continued improvements.”

Oats battled city fathers in the early 1990s to help gain approval for expansion of tennis facilities at the park and worked tirelessly to try to save the Aquacade, a 1939 World’s Fair attraction that ultimately fell to the wrecker’s ball after falling into disrepair in 1995. Oats also battled with the Queens division of the city Department of Parks and Recreation and officials at the United States Tennis Association (USTA) for years over their allowing tennis fans to park their vehicles on grasslands at Flushing Meadows during the annual US Open tennis tournament. His 1996 series on asbestos found in the Terrace On The Park catering hall landed him numerous accolades.

He fought for more than a decade for a new home for the Mets. From his hospital bed just two weeks ago, he vowed to be at the 2009 opening ceremonies of Citi Field, the new home of the Queens Boys of Summer.

From his Forest Hills apartment, Oats had a panoramic view of Queens that took in most of the borough, including La Guardia Airport, Downtown Flushing and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. It was there in 2006 that he first noticed the red light atop the Queens Pavilion’s 226-foot tower had gone dark, and remained out for months. Oats, organizer and president of the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park World’s Fair Association, reached out to various media for help in getting Parks maintenance workers to relight the beacon atop the pavilion. Oats was also head of the Queens Olympic Committee.

Last month he made an impassioned plea to officials at the New York State Archives, hoping to persuade them to return the Flushing Remonstrance to a permanent home in Queens. Oats arranged on three separate occasions for the Remonstrance, the document that led to establishing religious freedom in the United States, to be displayed in Queens.

When the Remonstrance was returned to Albany in January after a brief display at the Flushing branch of the Queens Borough Public Library, members of his Flushing Remonstrance Committee followed the document and delivered petitions to Governor Eliot Spitzer and state officials, calling for the document’s permanent return to Queens.
Oats expressed his disappointment at being unable to join the committee at a candlelight vigil in January, or for the trip to Albany. He said he planned to continue the fight when the Remonstrance returns to Queens for display at the Queens Museum from April 6 to June 29.
In a message last week on the Queens Tribune Web site, Publisher Michael Schenkler said Oats “…kept the Tribune’s heart–the newsroom–beating for almost half the paper’s life,” and described him as brilliant, gifted and creative.

“I’ll miss David,” Schenkler said.

David Oats is survived by his wife, Corinne, and a sister, Virginia Ernst of California. Private funeral services were held last weekend. Plans for a public memorial service are pending.

“David Oats was a talented writer who worked for the Queens Tribune and a number of other publications during his illustrious career,” Borough President Helen Marhsall said. “He was thorough and accurate and had a great ability to turn a phrase. My earliest recollection of him is when I was running programs for small children and David brought an exhibition of American Indians to the library. It was a wonderful and lasting experience for the youngsters. He had a passion for the history of our borough and cared deeply about its future. It is sad that we have lost him at such a young age. He still had so much to give. He will be missed.”