What Should We Do with Governor’s Island?Discussion Board, Hosted by The Gotham Center for New York City HistoryINDEX    U.N. on GOV. ISLAND eljefe 4/26/08 At 1:28:PM 0

    Gov. Island Gothamite 4/15/08 At 5:32:PM 0

    Check It Out CharlieP. 1/18/08 At 6:32:PM 1

    Simple Anita 1/17/08 At 1:14:PM 0

    Goversnors Island PJB 12/19/07 At 12:38:PM 0

    AnthonyZ. m.l.k. Monument 11/16/07 At 4:07:PM 2

    New Question Needed CharlieP. 11/13/07 At 11:07:AM 0

    Park T.J. 10/2/07 At 4:17:PM 2

    Ethnic Diversity Par... charlie 9/24/07 At 10:07:AM 1

    Put a language schoo... Former Resident 7/18/07 At 7:11:PM 0

    June 27, 2007 Tour G... Chris 6/21/07 At 7:33:PM 0

    Governors Island, NY Eli Takesian 6/14/07 At 7:22:AM 1

    REJECTION GOVERNORS ... Fndn for Historic New Amsterda 5/4/07 At 3:14:PM 2

    SHARED MUTUAL HERITA... Fndn for Historic New Amsterda 2/27/07 At 9:36:PM 1

    MORAL CONSCIENCE Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam 12/1/06 At 8:53:AM 0

    lease it Just thinking... 10/28/06 At 6:13:AM 0

    NATURAL RIGHT + ENDU... Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam 7/20/06 At 12:07:PM 1

    REV. KING JR. PAPERS Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam 7/20/06 At 11:56:AM 3

    Artist Space CVB 5/25/06 At 1:13:AM 1

    COURTESY of CIVILIZE... Fndn for Historic New Amsterda 5/11/06 At 8:51:PM 6

    New Netherland Music Warrior18 4/14/06 At 5:04:PM 0

    DEFENDING NY'S INHER... Fndn for Historic New Amsterda 3/22/06 At 9:09:PM 2

    Dutch Village pacholewka 2/16/06 At 2:26:PM 0

    MARTIN LUTHER KING'S... Fndn for Historic New Amsterda 1/15/06 At 12:25:PM 10

    DISRESPECTING MOMENT... Fndn for Historic New Amsterda 12/1/05 At 5:55:PM 6

    ERROR BY OMISSION, P... Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam 10/20/05 At 11:01:PM 6

    What shall we do wit... Eli Takesian 10/18/05 At 11:37:PM 3

    UNDERSTANDING AMERIC... Fndn for Historic New Amsterda 9/10/05 At 11:05:PM 5

    SYMBOL vs COMMERCIAL Fndn for Historic New Amsterda 8/10/05 At 10:34:AM 5

    Ask a New Yorker K 4/8/05 At 8:22:AM 7

    TRANSFORMING PLURALI... Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam 3/19/05 At 3:33:PM 4

    Governor's Island Janet 3/18/05 At 11:18:AM 1

    OBLITERATION STATE L... Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam 3/15/05 At 1:27:PM 6

    AUSCHWITZ COMMEMORAT... Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam 1/28/05 At 5:34:PM 5

    re: SW 12/6/04 At 10:22:PM 1

    Preservation Jerry France 11/27/04 At 8:52:AM 0

    Integrate the island... SW 11/23/04 At 10:14:PM 3

    Be Careful with Gove... jeff holmes 11/16/04 At 2:27:PM 0

    gov island plan richie ny 11/15/04 At 2:35:PM 2

    PRESIDENTIAL PETITIO... Foundation for Historic New Am 11/2/04 At 9:55:AM 6

    IDEAL GEOGRAPHY NEWSDAY, Sept. 29, 2004 9/30/04 At 4:12:PM 0

    9-11-1609 Heritage R... Fndn Hist New Amsterdam 9/11/04 At 2:44:PM 1

    JEWISH ARRIVAL 350 Y... Fndn Hist New Amsterdam 8/25/04 At 4:03:PM 3

    PUBLIC MEETING, July... Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam 8/2/04 At 10:47:AM 1

    FIRST NY WINDMILL Ann Buttenwieser Consulting 6/16/04 At 11:40:AM 9

    LARGE SCALE MIXED US... Fndn Hist. New Amsterdam 5/3/04 At 12:36:PM 1

    STAKING A CLAIM ON G... PRNewswire/April22/2004 4/23/04 At 11:06:AM 6

    PRICELESS NATIONAL S... Fdn Hist New Amsterdam 3/2/04 At 2:02:PM 5

    LEGISLATIVE ACTION Fdn Hist New Amsterdam 2/5/04 At 4:40:PM 4

    ULTIMATE VIRTUE Fdn Hist New Amsterdam 12/17/03 At 1:30:PM 6

    State and City to de... Pres, Bill J. Clinton 12/17/03 At 10:55:AM 4

    LIFEBLOOD OF LIBERTY Fndn Hist New Amsterdam 11/18/03 At 2:20:PM 5

    BEACON OF HISTORY NEWSDAY, May 24 2001 11/15/03 At 11:00:AM 7

    Six Year Summary, Po... Fdn Hist New Amsterdam 11/6/03 At 7:10:PM 0

    Introduction/Hist. R... Fdn HistNewAmsterdam 11/6/03 At 7:01:PM 2

    NYC's 350th - Interf... Roland Rogers 11/6/03 At 6:53:PM 5

    NY Times OpEd articl... Prof. Leo Hershskowitz 11/6/03 At 6:32:PM 4

    Legislative Resoluti... NY State Legislature 11/6/03 At 6:27:PM 4

    Nat. African America... Fndn Hist. New Amste 11/6/03 At 6:11:PM 1

    National Heritage Tr... Fndn for Hist. New A 11/6/03 At 6:01:PM 6

    History Corrected Joep de Koning 11/6/03 At 5:44:PM 2

    worldwide cultural p... KidsToday.net 6/14/03 At 3:18:PM 2

    Moral, Philosophic a... From WALTER CRONKITE 5/1/03 At 9:49:PM 8

    First Amendment on G... Fndn Hist. New A'dam 3/19/03 At 4:02:PM 3

    Jurisdictional Trans... State of New York 2/10/03 At 5:14:PM 8

    Appeal Chief Rabbi of Rome 12/14/02 At 7:53:PM 1

    Harbor Tolerance Sym... Joep de Koning 11/3/02 At 1:48:PM 0

    G.I. designated NYS ... State Legislature 11/2/02 At 11:40:AM 8

    Varied Use Campus fo... michael frost 9/9/02 At 12:29:PM 0

    Governor's Island Pat Bonomi 5/16/02 At 11:47:AM 6

    Governors Island Mike Wallace 5/2/02 At 5:09:PM 7

 Author  Subject

Mike Wallace Governors Island  •   posted 5/2/02 5:09:PM

I've been asked by City University Chancellor Matthew Goldstein to serve -- as a representative of the CUNY faculty -- on a committee to figure out how best to use Governor's Island. I think I can be most useful as a conduit for ideas generated by CUNY faculty and students, and by any concerned citizens, and so I've set up this discussion board and information center.       There are a lot of interesting ideas floating around that make use of the Island's location -- in but not quite of the City, a place to withdraw from Gotham the better to reflect or act upon it. Some of these take off from enterprises in which CUNY is currently engaged, and involve students coming to the island for short term immersion programs, ranging from seminars on city issues, to English immersion courses, to workforce training in conjunction with unions and employers (for nurses, say, as per the program being run in conjunction with 1199, or for artisanal trades, such as those run by the Center for Worker Education). Others focus on a research park or incubator model for new manufacturing sectors, from biotech to ecoindustrial development. Another approach is for CUNY to spearhead a multi-university consortium -- amazingly, we have no institution that fosters cooperation among the many participants in New York City's hi! gher education sector -- for collective tackling of assorted urban issues. There are also suggestions for enhancing public access to the island's green spaces, or for recreating old New Amsterdam as a historic attraction.       We'd love to hear from you. Click here to post your proposal and read those posted by others, and send us as well any other web sites that bear on the subject. Thanks in advance for your help.    Mike Wallace

Robert Pirani Governors Island  •   posted 5/7/02 1:56:PM

The Regional Plan Association and the Governors Island Alliance have been advocating for public access, park space, and preservation of the Island's historic district, and have developed some specific ideas on how that can be achieved. For a Q and A piece that speaks to some of the issues you’ve raised, see http://reclaimgovernorsisland.org/Reclaim/qa.htm. More later. 

Richard Mooney DON'T LOOK A GIFT HORSE IN THE MOUTH  •   posted 5/20/02 8:48:AM

When someone gives you a horse it is bad manners to count its teeth - a sign of its age - without first giving sincere thanks. President Bush has made a generous pledge to return Governors Island in New York harbor to its rightful owner, the State of New York, for a "modest" price, provided only that it be used as a facility for the City University. Before we count the teeth in this deal, let there be resounding cheers. The island is a 172-acre jewel just off Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan, rich with history and magnificent open space in an incomparable harbor setting. For most of the past two centuries it was a major Army base and then a Coast Guard command center. When they no longer needed it the government put it up for sale to the highest bidder. The President's offer removes that

depressing possibility. That's a tremendous relief.

The idea of planting some part of CUNY out there is really just that, an idea, apparently devised overnight without much thought and probably as a favor to Governor Pataki, currently running for a third term. So be it. That's politics. What matters above all is that the island is that the deal commits the island to public use, not private property. The absence of detail is actually a blessing -- an opportunity for healthy public airing of the possibilities.

Full disclosure: I belong to the Governors Island Alliance, a group of organizations and individuals concerned with developments in and around New York harbor. (I'm also retired from the New York Times editorial page, where I wrote about planning for Governors Island.) These thoughts are my own.

Two immediate concerns spring to mind. First and most immediate is the need for federal legislation to clear up the uncertain status of the Governors Island National Monument - a 20-acre site surrounding and linking two historic forts constructed to defend the harbor just prior to the War of 1812. The monument should also be enlarged. My second concern is that any plan for the island's future should provide for public access, not just for tourists visiting the forts, and certainly not just for young people with student passes.

The island has two distinct halves. The historic northern half has the forts and some three dozen 19th-century officers' houses flanking a 20-acre parade ground, plus a huge 20th century building large enough to house a regiment. This northern half is a New York City Landmark, subject to strict limits on any architectural changes. The buildings on the southern half date are mainly apartments and row houses from the 1920's and even the 1980's, built for Army and Coast Guard families. They have been mothballed since the Coast Guard left in 1996, and their physical condition has deteriorated to the point that they could not be used to house service personnel who came to New York for the World Trade Center emergency.

President Clinton and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan once struck a deal to return the island to New York for $1 if Albany and City Hall presented a satisfactory plan for its use. Alas, they dawdled. Eventually they presented a rough idea of what they might like to do, but it didn't past muster in Washington. At the eleventh hour of his presidency, Mr. Clinton issued an executive order creating the National Monument under the National Park Service. It was so poorly drawn that the monument might have ceased to exist if the island had been sold to private ownership.

Representatives Jerrold Nadler and Carolyn Maloney are sponsoring legislation to assure the monument's permanence. It should be enlarged at the same time. As drawn it embraces the two forts

and open space between them. To draw tourists it needs a modest visitors center, preferably with a restaurant or at least a snack bar at the water's edge, a spectacular setting that would look straight out at the Statue of Liberty.

Not knowing what CUNY may have in mind for all or part of the island, it must nonetheless dead with the existence of the National Monument, which guarantees that there will be visitors. They will almost certainly pay to get there, by ferry, and perhaps to enter the forts. Access by the general public is another matter.

In these years of budget distress, all levels of government seek ways to cut costs and raise revenue. Considering the costs of redesigning Lower Manhattan, there is understandable pressure on CUNY to keep its costs down. Whatever it decides to do, it will probably try to conserve on capital costs by renovating buildings in the southern half, whether for classrooms or dormitories. It might also use the historic houses in the northern half for faculty housing. Operating costs will have to come from city and state budgets and student fees. But there is no fee for John Q. to amble in Central Park, and there must be no fee - other than the ferry - for ambling and picnicking on the waterfront esplanade that circles the island. There must also be space for play. The open area in the center of the southern half has accommodated as many as eight baseball fields. Let it remain open, for baseball, soccer, Frisbee or whatever. New York City needs public playing fields. There are not enough of them, and many are scattered to remote locations; the time it takes to get to Governors Island should be no obstacle. The greater obstacle would arise if CUNY claimed the Governors Island fields for exclusive CUNY use.

Thank you for giving back our island, Mr. Bush. Now let's get on with the public ventilating over what and what not - to do with in. 

Hist. New Amsterdam Nat. Iconographic Triad  •   posted 11/2/02 1:21:PM

Your comment on a possible recreation of New Amsterdam may have come from the efforts of the Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam (a public, not-for-profit, 501 (C) (3) organization) which has been seeking political approval, since 1997, for a NATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE in New York harbor.

The Triangle would represent America’s fundamental values of Tolerance, Freedom and Welcome as embodied by Governors Island, Liberty Island and Ellis Island, respectively.

The notion of tolerance is to be symbolized by a Historic New Amsterdam park as a national monument. The legal-political guaranty of tolerance was planted on American shore by New York’s first settlers who disembarked on Governors Island in 1624 - the place and date of birth of, amongst other, New York,

New Jersey and Connecticut. It was America’s earliest pluralistic community - an enlightened culture of inclusion and diversity - unprecedented for the time and based on free trade. It constitutes the basis of New York’s cultural history. Freedom has no meaning in an intolerant society - witness the 1930’s or the recent September 11, 2001 destruction of the Twin Towers. Tolerance, therefore, precedes liberty. It is New York’s unique contribution to the nation and requires one’s considerateness as an implicit gift to another.

The proposed historical park, on the lower one-third portion of Governors Island, finds its roots in New York’s earliest written history. The approximately 50-acre park is to serve as an outdoor museum, built along New Amsterdam’s street plan of 1660. Its main thematic function is to serve as symbol-of-tolerance because tolerance was a legal-political condition and unarguably the colony’s most important contribution to the future of the United States. The park’s programming would recall and preserve the historic themes of New York’s seventeenth-century colonial period that laid the groundwork for many of America’s most durable political and social institutions. Concepts of ethnic and religious toleration, and civic and economic inclusiveness, for example, were then first introduced to America.

The envisaged park will be a showcase of early New York colonial architecture and culture. It will also entertain its visitors and educate them about America’s first diverse community [Native-Americans, African-Americans and European-Americans] that thrived on inclusion. The meaningful living museum-to-tolerance will be a permanent reminder that tolerance and liberty are mutually dependent and that liberty will not be possible without tolerance - the foundation of which was laid on Governors Island in 1624 - the year of New York State’s official birth.

We had hoped to receive political approval prior to October 2001, in order to complete the park by the year 2009 -   400 years after Henry Hudson’s discovery of the mighty estuary that was to become the New York’s lifeline.

We need your help in getting the policians become engaged, in making them understand that a good politican is not only opportunistically reactive but also creatively proactive in order to execute a vision that is good for their descendants, the future of New York and the benefit of ALL Americans.

To reach the Foundation send e-mail to Batavier1@AOL.com

Miranda Mehaffey Governor's Island  •   posted 6/30/03 10:06:AM

I just happened across this web site and had to respond. I have, for the past few years, and especially since the DYFS debacle, wanted to open a children's home. This home would replace all of the bad foster care out there. It would provide a school for the children, 24-hour staff, psychiatrists, counselors,

and social workers. It would have specific programs set up for parents and family to visit their children, and a special adoption program that lets the children keep their dignity.

Governors Island would be the perfect sanctuary for these children. There are enough houses to set up different programs for students with special needs, and a large facility for the school and gym area. The historic houses would be maintained, and the grounds of Governors Island is an ideal place for children to play safely.

We don’t need another college or industrial site or “new or little” anything (New Amsterdam, little Italy). Something wonderful should be done for all of the abused and “throw away” children out there. They deserve it.

I have so much more to say on the subject, but that is for a later time.Thank You

Italia1313@aol.com Governors Island  •   posted 7/12/03 3:54:PM

My first view of Governors Island was when I secured the job as a bartender in the White Hat's Club (Enlisted) back in 1975. I immediately fell in love with the history and beauty that she held. I met and married a First Class Petty Officer and remained on the Island until late 1977. Our apartment faced the NYC skyline where we saw the WTC in its baby stages. As a matter of fact in the NYC blackout of 1977 the WTC was the last point in NY to lose power. All that shown in NY harbor that night was the Statue of Liberty. A joke soon began that Miss Liberty must belong to Jersey. The Island was a community unto itself with a 2.5 mile circumference, swimming pools, 3 smaller high rise buildings, 1 larger and newer one, and many row houses for officer personnel and their families. There was also a dispensary, commissary, Exchange, country story, bowling alley, single enlisted quarters, training centers, beauty parlor, and many other necessities. To this day I remember walking across the Quad and stopping at attention to taps putting Old Glory to bed for the night. We often opened the Island to visitors and gave them tours of the Castle, Fort Jay, and many of our conveniences. A local group of Revolutionary War buffs put on exhibits for the visitors who were also shown the importance of making Stone Soup. The Island was one of the strongholds that kept the British at bay in NY Harbor, the Battery being the other. I often stood by the old cannons and looked across the bay at Ellis and Liberty Island and felt linked to those who had gone long before me in this very place. I stood arm and arm with many people on July 4, 1976 at our Bi-Centennial celebration and when the rockets flew, we all sang along to a simultaneously broadcast God Bless America. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. I lived once a long time ago in Building 844 Apt. 2H, no one can erase my memories. But who will remember the memories of those who fought to keep those 13 sister colonies under the American flag if we allow Governors Island to fall to ruin? Our American monuments are falling to ruin. Governors Island needs to be claimed an historic

place to be preserved if for nothing else to honor those brave militia who fought to make us the America we are today! To allow anything less is to spit on all they fought for...life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Tom Bernardin What to do with...  •   posted 9/26/05 7:32:AM

I think the idea of having a college campus on GI is just crazy. Make these kids take a ferry for one or two classes? A lot of these kids will have part-time jobs and will be spending most of their time commuting. Let's face it: the rest of NYC is the best campus in the world.

I very much like the idea that appeared in the OP-Ed page in the NY Times some time ago: open a top-notch golf course. (I am not a golfer.) This would preserve vast open spaces and would show off the historic buildings on the island. I think the income could be considerable...and when not being used by the well-heeled, could be used by school teams.

deadduck what to do  •   posted 2/23/06 10:01:AM

A new world-class NY styled Sydney's Opera House.

Pat Bonomi Governor's Island  •   posted 5/16/02 11:47:AM

I support the idea of some kind of historic reconstruction for a part of Governor's Island. It could be on the Williamsburg model but with a New York theme. A colonial village, perhaps with a Dutch element to make it unique and pertinent to the City's history, would have both educational and tourist potential. It could tie into CUNY's programs, especially to history departments and the Gotham Center. School children could witness reenactments of Indian powwows, Leisler's Rebellion, slave uprisings, battles of the American Revolution. If also keyed to tourists, the historic village might be self-supporting, or even profitable.

Joep de Koning Thematic Relevance  •   posted 11/2/02 12:31:PM

Your suggestion is most valid as New York has its own unique 17th-century history with its legacy of tolerance. It shouldn’t been seen through the eyes of its, then, adjoining cultures as represented, now, by historical developments like Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia or Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts. Governors Island is the source of America’s legal-political guarantee or tolerance that culminated in the First Amendment of the 1791 Bill of Rights.

The island represents therefore an unparalleled opportunity for both America and New York to feature this legacy. Already, in 1998, we conceived a not-for-profit, museum park-to-tolerance - Historic New Amsterdam - as a historical park or living museum comprising museum functions (indoors and outdoors) and various commercial activities (historical amusement, entertainment, marina, hospitality, retail). The park's purpose is to recall and preserve the historic themes of New York's seventeenth-century colonial period that were essential to the building of some of America's most durable political and social institutions.

Historic New Amsterdam's main thematic function is to serve as a symbol of tolerance -- a precious prerogative in seventeenth-century New Amsterdam [now New York], where freedom of conscience and religion, and the ability to seek redress of grievances, were guaranteed by law as enshrined in the Fatherland’s 1579 constitution. This tradition of tolerance enabled New Amsterdam's burghers to seek protection from intolerant rulings by petitioning to the highest levels of government in the Fatherland, and this they did.

A petition in1649 led to the first municipal charter in North America. A petition in 1654 rooted the Jewish community in North America. The famous "Flushing Remonstrance" of 1657 stated that the "law of love, peace and liberty in the states extend[s] to Jews, Turks [Muslims], and Egyptians [Gypsies]" in New Netherland. And the John Bowne petition of 1663 ensured liberty for Quakers. In seventeenth century America, the battle for tolerance was first fought on Manhattan Island. The strength of constitutionally protected diversity in New Amsterdam served as an enduring example to the growth of the American nation.

The theme of tolerance, so timely today, is both complementary to and compatible with the nearby Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island and the Immigration Museum on Ellis Island. The Statue and the Immigration Museum, which serve as symbols of freedom and welcome to the nation and to the world, are major tourist draws. In the same way, Historic New Amsterdam, with its focus on tolerance, will carry a meaningful message to the world, while serving as a place of cultural and educational importance -- and fun and positive cash flow as well. The park’s intrinsic message will be forever relevant to the well-functioning of the nation - if not the world.

Historic New Amsterdam park is envisioned as providing the visitor with an innovative experience and an authentic sensation of walking physically through New Amsterdam of the period 1660-1700. Behind the reconstructed, architecturally unique facades of America’s first seventeenth-century urban buildings will be a wealth of historical, cultural, and twenty-first-century commercial activities, services and museum functions. Additionally, the park will function as an open air museum that showcases the Middle Colonies’ (Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut) earliest

architectural and material culture.

The Historic New Amsterdam park will be situated on approximately 35% of Governors Island, the lower 1/3rd portion, that lies about 500 yards south of Manhattan in the mouth of the East River.

Joep de Koning, E-mail: Batavier1@aol.com

Jack M. Governors Island  •   posted 6/17/03 12:38:AM

The island would make an excellent prison. While NYC has Rikers Island, the feds should take the island back and make it a prison.A- This would cost NYC nothing.B- Prison personnel and staff would bring jobs and money into cash strapped NYC.

seagold3 Governors Island  •   posted 7/21/03 4:58:AM

I was stationed on there in 1990=1991, and we all then were discussing what would happen should the CG abandon it as a base. Of course, the idea of a college campus came up; but transportation to/fron the island is difficult and expensive to maintain. I do, instead, favor the idea of making it a prison island for the less violent crime committed types. You have to remember that escape is very possible across Buttermilk Channel at a slack tide over to Brooklyn. So, not the bad-bad-bad ones over there please.

DG GOVERNORS ISLAND  •   posted 7/1/06 6:00:PM

I THINK A RESORT ISLAND WOULD BRING IN THE MOST MONEY AND WOULD INCREASE JOBS. SOMETHING LIKE FIRE ISLAND BUT ON A SMALLER SCALE.

michael frost Varied Use Campus for G.I.  •   posted 9/9/02 12:29:PM

While this is certainly not a comprehensive proposal, there are a few things that I believe should be considered.

1) consultation of faculty and students as well as mid-level and upper-level staff would be helpful in any discussions

2) renovation of the golf course, renovation and expasion of the marina by the small boat station as well

as on lima, tango, and/or yankee piers. (one would still be needed for ferry maintence)

3) reduction of baseball field space to four fields, use the remaining space for a soccer field and multi-use green space

4) level the facilities area and construct science and tech research center on that end of the island

5) convert bldg 400 to classroom space,

6) bldg 12, 111, 112, 555, and the barracks to undergraduate residence halls, brick village to family and/or CUNY-wide graduate housing, and liberty village to faculty/staff housing.

7) use nolan park and colonel's row for senior faculty and senior staff housing,

8) the stables for alumni relations,

9) the admiral's office and surrounding buildings for CUNY administrative offices and bldg 110, 108, and 107 for campus administrative offices.

10) rennovate the galley for use as a cafeteria, the south battery for a restaurant and banquette hall, theatre for film and stage productions, the mariners club as a student union (extending into the small gym), re-establish the bowling alley and snack-bar by the fields, renovate and re-open the swimming pools

11) demolish 844, 855, 866, & 877 and use the space for classroom buildings, science buildings, and other academic buildings.

12) re-open the BOQ and bldg 113 as university guest houses and the motel as a commercial motel and golf pro-shop.

13) residence halls should be charged at rates consitent with such facilities (NOT market value) and faculty/staff housing should also be charged out in that manner. The admiral's house should be used by the chancellor (which would free up the money spent on a condo for him and give him a bigger place with more pretige for entertaining for CUNY events).

14) finally, i think that public access should be extended to all. the fields should be opened to the NYC

HS teams, public use, and of course CUNY. the ferry should have a fee consistent with the rest of the transit system and a substantial fee for vehicles with on-island parking passes either restricted to those who live there or sold at lower manhattan market prices. greens-fees should be market based as should slip fees and anchor points in the marina and motel rooms. i must stress that i do not believe that green-space access should be restricted in any way, but charging for greens fees, parking (as is common in manhattan and other large cities), and marina space would help defray the costs of maintenence and upkeep to the campus and the ferry system.

thank you for your time and e-mail me if i can clarify any thing written here for you.

mike frost (prescott, az)

State Legislature G.I. designated NYS 1624 birthplace  •   posted 11/2/02 11:40:AM

State of New YorkLegislative Resolution Senate No. 5476        Assembly No. 2708

BY: Senators Marchi, Farley and Johnson

BY: Committee on Rules at the request of M. of A. McEneny, Silver, Canestrari, Englebright, Morelle, Markey, Cahill, Christensen, Colman, Cook, Destito, Farrell, Glick, Gordon, Gottfried, Gromack, Gunther, Jacobs, Lavelle, Mayersohn, McLaughlin, Millman, Ortiz, Prentiss, Schimminger, Seddio, Sidikman, Sweeney, Tonko and Townsend

MEMORIALIZING Governor George E. Pataki to recognize the official placeand date of birth of the State of New York as being Governors Island in the year 1624

WHEREAS, At the start of the 12-year armistice (1609-1621) between the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands (the Dutch Republic) and Spain, Captain Henry Hudson, commissioned by the [Dutch] East India Company and aboard the ship Halve Maen (Half Moon), arrived in the River Mauritius (Hudson River) as the first official explorer representing the Dutch Republic; Hudson conducted New York’s first recorded commercial transaction in 1609 which formed the basis for ongoing private commercial interests in the fur trade for that region; and

WHEREAS, Various private commercial entities from the Republic had competed for a share in the fur trade in

the Hudson River regions since 1610 and, for the purpose of obtaining a fur-trading monopoly, amalgamated into the New Netherland Company on October 11, 1614; and

WHEREAS, The New Netherland Company was the result of the explorations, from 1611 through 1614, of the Amsterdam explorer and private commercial fur trader, Adriaen Block; the first explorer of any country to chart the eastern coast of what is now Marblehead Bay, north of Cape Cod, to the Hudson River, and who named it New Netherland; and

WHEREAS, Upon the end of the armistice and the creation of the [Dutch] West India Company in 1621, the Dutch Republic sought to effectuate a cultural transplantation on the North American continent by way of an eighth province for the purpose of imposing its sovereignty onto the territory, now extending south to the Delaware Bay, through the delegated authority of the West India Company; and

WHEREAS, The West India Company recalled all private commercial parties operating in the New Netherland territory in 1622 and 1623 and invalidated all private commercial interests, thus voiding the law of the ship as only legal recourse in the region; and

WHEREAS, The Dutch Republic officially established its institutional, administrative and cultural infrastructure onto the New Netherland territory by planting its first colony of thirty families on Noten Eylant in 1624 (renamed Governors Island in 1784); these colonists had disembarked on Governors Island in the summer of 1624 from the ship named "New Netherland" under the command of Cornelis Jacobszoon May (as in Cape May in New Jersey); and

WHEREAS, In June, 1625, forty-five more colonists disembarked on Governors Island from three ships named Horse, Cow and Sheep which also delivered 103 horses, steers and cows, in addition to numerous pigs and sheep - thus successfully completing the Republic’s first planting of a colony in 1624, and extrapolating the Republic’s culture, its 1579 Constitution and legal-political guaranty of tolerance onto the North American continent; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to memorialize Governor George E. Pataki to recognize the official place and date of birth of the State of New York as being Governors Island in the year 1624, continuing a heritage from Dutch settlers which will endure even as New York City contemplates possible new uses for the island, such as facilities for The City University of New York; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the New Netherland infrastructure formed the foundation for New York’s continuing development and that the cultural imprint of the New Netherland community, upon relinquishing political control to the English in 1674, had a profound and enduring impact on New York’s unique cultural heritage;

and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to George E. Pataki, Governor of the State of New York.

ADOPTED IN SENATE ONMay 14, 2002John J. Marchi        

By order of the Senate,Steven M. Boggess, Secretary

ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY ONMay 30, 2002John J. McEneny        

By order of the Assembly,Karen L. McCann, Acting Clerk

Fndn Hist. New A'damOur Answer to 9/11  •   posted 3/26/03 5:01:PM

June 14, 2002

The Hon. Joseph L. BrunoMajority leader, New York State Senate909 LOB Albany, NY 12247                Dear Senator Bruno,

Our answer to the wanton destruction and murder that occurred on 9/11 lies in the creation of the envisaged National Heritage Triangle in New York harbor.

Our proposal for Historic New Amsterdam as a Museum Park-to-Tolerance is the response to those who conspire against liberty - who want to ruin Western civilization. In the face of those who want to destroy, we want to build and defend freedom by linking New York’s original 1624 legal-political guarantee of tolerance and liberty with America’s contemporary principles which sustain our heritage.

Last month, the State Legislature officially recognized Governors Island as the 1624 birthplace of New York State (then named New Netherland) and the source of America’s legal-political condition of tolerance that culminated in the First Amendment. Together with last April’s dedication of the island to education, jointly, by the U.S. President, New York State Governor and City Mayor, the island is to be viewed as a national historic place of educational and thematic significance.

The island can now support a national, long-term vision of meaning and substance rather than a local, short-term development opportunity as it carries the symbolic meaning of “tolerance” in the same way that Liberty Island symbolizes “freedom” and Ellis Island “welcome”.

This New Amsterdam heritage and the message of our Historic New Amsterdam project are today, more than ever, of particular importance for the people of this country. Our proposal will preserve, explain and promulgate the values we have taken so often for granted. It should receive public and political attention. It deserves your attention and support.

Again, this project is our answer to those forces which seek the wanton destruction of Western civilization. It safeguards your vested self-interest in this society. It preserves your children’s and grandchildren’s future.

What is your answer to terror, murder and barbaric intolerance?Sincerely,

Joep de KoningBatavier1@AOL.com

cc: NYS Senate, NYS Assembly, NY Congressional Delegation, Governor George E. Pataki, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, NYC Council, Directors Lower Manhattan Development Corporation                                        

From NYC350 DRAFT CITY PROCLAMATION  •   posted 5/11/03 10:16:PM

December 6, 2002

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR

CITY OF NEW YORK

DRAFT MAYORAL PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, February 2 is the anniversary date of the establishment in New Amsterdam (now New York City) of the first municipal self-governing legislature (“Charter Day”); and

WHEREAS, The grant which first created the self-governing legislature on that day in the year 1653 is relevant to the development of modern-day American democracy; and

WHEREAS, The self-governing municipal body known as Burghers and Schepens , now the present Mayor and New York City Council, secured for its citizens basic rights of freedom of conscience, religion, redress of grievances, speech, commerce, and association and established concepts of toleration and justice which have become the foundation of the liberty and diversity that fostered the remarkable growth and progress of this City, State and Country; and

WHEREAS, Such freedoms have been challenged over the centuries and most recently by those who seek to pursue intolerance, tyranny and injustice; and

WHEREAS, The meaning of February 2, 1653, is the expression of the steadfast vitality of all the citizens of New York City in their search to create a community which reaches ever upward, a community where seven million inhabitants from all corners of the world build their hopes and dreams; and

WHEREAS, This Proclamation is our answer to those who seek to destroy, exclude and divide, spread hatred and intolerance; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That I, Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York, in recognition of the importance of February 2, 1653, in our City’s history, do hereby proclaim the year 2003 as the 350th anniversary year and February 2, 2003, as the 350th anniversary date of North America’s first municipality; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a significant celebration, sponsored by the Office of the Mayor and reflecting the importance of February 2, 1653, to all New Yorkers, be held on the specific 350th anniversary date, February 2, 2003; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Office of the Mayor endorses the creation of events and festivities in each of the five boroughs during this 350th anniversary year in order to promote the City’s message of harmony in difference by recognizing the fundamental freedoms of others; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Office of the Mayor endorses the annual celebration of Charter Day in order to promote enduring awareness of the City’s patrimony of cultural pluralism and tolerance thus fostering continued unity among its diverse residents. 

Joep de Koning Harbor Tolerance Symbol  •   posted 11/3/02 1:48:PMNATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLEHistoric New Amsterdam Living Museum-to-Tolerance on Governors IslandA historical park on Governors Island recalling the themes of the birth of 17th century colonial New York CityA place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural and material culture

IntroductionSeventeenth-century New York instilled the values of tolerance and liberty into American culture where they became fortified in succeeding centuries. Designating Governors Island as the iconographic symbol of America’s ultimate virtue of tolerance - next to the symbols of freedom (Liberty Island) and welcome (Ellis Island) - is of immense national educational and historical value. Historic New Amsterdam, as museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island, would release the island’s intangible historic value to become an element in a National Heritage Triangle of America’s fundamental values. The not-for-profit, 50-acre park deserves a chance and needs your proactive support. Politicians only - City, State and federal - can make it happen. The key individuals would be Governor Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg, New York Senate majority leader Joseph Bruno and New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and, naturally, President George W. Bush as long as the island is owned by the federal government.The United States notions of freedom, liberty and tolerance were values embedded in New York’s origins upon the 1624 planting of the legal-political infrastructure by the first settlers on Governors Island. In that year, the law of the ship ceased to exist in New Netherland (then stretching from Cape Cod to the Delaware Bay), and burghers used their constitutional right to freedom of conscience and religion by exercising their legal right to petition to the highest authorities (now First Amendment issues). We can therefore definitively state that the first battles of American tolerance were fought in New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island.Only at the beginning of the 18th century - marked by the 1702 death of King William I, also Stadholder Willem III of the Dutch Republic - did New Netherland’s political influence begin to wane. By that time, New York was well past infancy and into its adolescent period. Childhood had formed New York’s personality - one based on the ideological foundation of cultural pluralism. It would forever remain part of New York’s unique cultural heritage and prepared the foundation of the American nation to come.Not knowing where ones comes from, rejecting ones past or trivializing ones upbringing would be like being lost in space, to sail rudderless in an infinite ocean. Understanding New York’s childhood, what it represented or stood for, is not just knowing your roots by looking into the past but also comprehending the world we live in today, and providing the guide that will help lead us into the future. It certainly helps make us understand what it means to be an American - tolerance is New York’s patrimony.Joep de Koning, Founder and Chief Executive, Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam (batavier1@aol.com)HISTORICAL RELEVANCE OF HISTORIC NEW AMSTERDAM ON GOVERNORS ISLANDCultural SynopsisThe history of the province of New Netherland and, at its center, the town of New Amsterdam (now New York), is of profound importance to the development of the United States. For it was during this period that concepts

of religious and ethnic toleration, and civic and economic inclusiveness were first introduced to this continent by the republic of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. These are the very ideals which form the bedrock of American culture and political philosophy. Unfortunately, New Netherland’s influence on America’s institutions and traditions are not well known to the ordinary person. Yet, law courts based on the Dutch model fostered the development of an orderly community in New Netherland; charters along Dutch precedents established local town governments in the 1640s and 1650s; and, representational government had its inchoate origins in New Netherland’s Board of Nine Men, which took Director-General Stuyvesant and his Council to task for maintaining their predecessors’ lack of concern for the colony’s overall general welfare.Other facts not widely known regarding New Netherland’s contributions to American culture include the incorporation in 1653 of New Amsterdam as a municipality modeled on the Dutch style, with courts of justice and a system of poor relief also modeled on that of Amsterdam. The right to rebel against tyranny, freedom of the press, freedom of conscience, all can be traced to New York when it was known as New Netherland. Not only had the Dutch Republic’s Constitution, the Union of Utrecht, in 1579 guaranteed that each person shall remain free, especially in regard to one’s religion, and that no one shall be persecuted because of religious belief, but the Union of Utrecht was also an inspiration for Benjamin Franklin’s "Join, or Die" philosophy expressed in 1754, and eventually for the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution. Even more interesting, the language and ideology of the Declaration of Independence so strongly reflect that of the Dutch Act of Abjuration of 1581, declaring Dutch freedom from Spanish tyranny, that many scholars believe Thomas Jefferson used it as one of the models for the Declaration.   Therefore, the legacy of New York’s earliest European community did not end at the English takeover of New Netherland. One does not go to bed a New Netherlander and wake up the next morning as a British colonial. New Netherland lives to this very day in America’s cultural history, its political institutions, and in its political and civic culture. Its commending themes and messages, embedded in America’s foundations, have had not only a lasting impact on our nation but are also immensely relevant for our society today.Signed: Education and History Committee

Chief Rabbi of Rome Appeal  •   posted 12/14/02 7:53:PMUnsolicited letter, dated October 14, 2002, addressed to Secretary of State Colin Powell by Dr. Riccardo Di Segni, Chief Rabbi of RomeSir,I take the liberty of writing to you to inform you that I have studied the project of Mr. Joep de Koning for the creation of the National Heritage Triangle - Historic New Amsterdam park.I admire the value of this project, aimed at perpetuating the memory of a place and a history that is of the utmost importance to humanity. I say this both as a Jew and as an Italian, knowing full well the importance of that hope for both peoples.Today, there is a real risk that the fire of intolerance will grow and spread destruction, as happened last year in New York. It is important that this city in particular be remembered as a symbol of tolerance and hope.I will be extremely grateful to you for anything that can be done to assist Mr. Joep de Koning carry out his plans.Sincerely, Dr. Riccardo Di Segni, Chief Rabbi of Rome

Chief Rabbi of Rome NY Legislature Appeal  •   posted 12/14/02 8:07:PM

November 20, 2002The Hon. Dean Skelos        Deputy Majority Leader, New York State Senate503 Capitol Albany, NY 12224IN DEFENSE OF TOLERANCE AND LIBERTYDear Senator Skelos,The Chief Rabbi of Rome in Italy, Dr. Riccardo Di Segni, asked Secretary of State Colin Powell’s assistance in helping to conserve New York’s valuable 1624 patrimony of tolerance by having our plans for Governors Island realized, thus "perpetuating the memory of a place and a history of the utmost importance to humanity" (reverse).We don’t know Dr. Di Segni but were obviously delighted to hear of his independent support for the creation of the National Heritage Triangle* in New York Harbor. Wouldn’t it be timely for the New York State Legislature to assert its precedence as the owner and keeper of New York’s cultural heritage? Would it be worth your while to look beyond district issues and toward New York State’s common good — the creation of the envisaged national iconographic island triad which is to become the omnipotent American image for the defense of tolerance and liberty — America’s ultimate and mutually dependent virtues?Rabbi Di Segni’s unusually rare initiative, professing, with very powerful words indeed, his profound belief in the proposed project, must be some indication that our appeals of the last four years to the Legislature deserve more than a cursory glance — that the Legislature should be the proper vehicle to contemplate and ratify a proposal of significance to New York State specifically and America generally.A New York Observer article of November 11, 2002, states that the combination of local political and commercial real estate interests have been the forces that have shaped the Governors Island process. Then, isn’t the Legislature independent of such local forces and can it address the need for a grander, more inclusive and enduring image for the State involving the conservation of New York’s patrimony on the place of its birth? Should local interests only be allowed to prevent an important, meaningful national development from happening and to conspire obliterating an opportunity of great cultural magnitude for New York with a profound message that is an essential ingredient of western civilization?Governors Island’s value to the State is not just its physical value but its obfuscated, intangible value that can only be made tangible by the Legislature’s approval of the 50-acre museum park-to-tolerance — Historic New Amsterdam. Defending liberty in our open, pluralist society this way should be good for your descendants, future generations of New Yorkers and Americans.   Could you please advise the sponsors of Senate Resolution No 5476 and Assembly Resolution No 2708 that you support a bill that would effectuate the National Heritage Triangle?Sincerely,Joep de KoningChief ExecutiveFoundation for Historic New AmsterdamMuseum park-to-tolerance cc: State Legislature                

For web information about the concept of tolerance please go to www.tolerance.org (an unaffiliated site)Fndn Hist. New A'damFirst Amendment on Governors Island  •   posted 3/19/03 4:02:PM

                November 22, 2000The George E. PatakiGovernor, New York State State CapitolAlbany, NY 12224NEW VIEW ON THE FIRST AMENDMENTA New York Creation*Dear Governor Pataki,In 1664, Stuyvesant conditionally agreed to hand over New Netherland subject to 24 stipulations in The Articles of Transfer of New Netherland including — what later became the First Amendment — the guarantee that colonists “shall enjoy the liberty of their consciences in religion”. Another article stipulated that the transfer would be provisional and subject to the consent of both England and the Netherlands. Accordingly, the territory would change hands two more times in addition to an unsuccessful local uprising (Leisler) during the next 27 years. These events are summarized in the enclosed Short Historical Overview*All military men that surrendered and chose to plant were to receive 50 acres. This was the 19th condition in The Articles: “The officers, military and soldiers shall march out [of the fort]…and if any of them will plant they shall receive 50 acres of land set out for them”.It would thus be a fitting decision to dedicate 50 acres of land on Governors Island - less than one-third of the island - to commemorate the birth of New York and “the planting” of its 17th century contributions to American cultural history. The 50 acres will recover New York’s history on the same place where it started.We trust that the historical relevance of Historic New Amsterdam will help support a positive decision on reserving 50 acres for the historical park on Governors Island. In just 9 years, upon full completion of the park in 2009, New York will be ready to thus celebrate its 400th anniversary since Henry Hudson’s documented discovery of 1609. You can help realize this dream for all New Yorkers.For and on behalf of The Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam, Museum Park-to-Tolerance, New York                Joep de Koning* Excerpt from Historical Summary: New Netherland’s legal, administrative and communication infrastructure helped create, in a time span of 73 years, a culture of unprecedented tolerance and freedom. The accepted concepts of religious and ethnic diversity and civic and economic inclusiveness were notions that were far ahead of their time in North America and the world. The cosmopolitan and tolerant culture of New Amsterdam thus outlasted New Netherland’s political role. As culture is the appropriation and transformation of ideas, today’s American culture became thus rooted in the enlightened atmosphere of 17th century New York-its childhood. This libertarian foundation has perpetuated itself to this very day. Tolerance, as embedded in New York’s cultural history, is unarguably the most important contribution that New Netherland has made to the future of the United States. In a diverse society there can be no liberty where there is no tolerance - the foundation of which was laid on Governors Island in 1624.

This Message Was Edited At 2:13:PM On 02/28/04 by the AdminFndn Hist. New A'damNY's Patrimony as Distinct Cultural Park  •   posted 3/19/03 4:14:PM

June 5, 2002The Hon. George E. PatakiGovernor, New York StateState Capitol         Albany, N.Y. 12224The Hon. Michael R. BloombergMayor of the City of New YorkCity HallNew York, N.Y. 10007Dear Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg,Last month, both the New York State Senate and Assembly passed a Legislative Resolution recognizing Governors Island as the 1624 birthplace of New York State and the source of America’s legal-political guarantee of tolerance that culminated in the First Amendment of the 1791 Bill of Rights.Now, Governors Island can become an important educational destination for all Americans similar to [but not the same as] Colonial Williamsburg or Plimoth Plantation. It represents an unparalleled opportunity for both America and New York State to feature their unique seventeenth-century heritage with its legacy of tolerance.This message of tolerance was an essential component in the development of the nation. Today, more than ever, it is understood to be a precursor to individual liberty, a fundamental American value and indispensable for the continued well-functioning of our society.The federal government and the State Legislature’s support for our envisaged National Heritage Triangle*, with its 50-acre educational subset for our proposed museum park-to-tolerance, will help keep alive the island’s ongoing significance to America and New York in particular. The historic importance of our proposed Historic New Amsterdam project, its educational value to Americans and the relevance of its message to the world can now be seriously considered by you.For New York State to recognize its place and date of birth after 378 years should only be the beginning - not the end.Sincerely,                Joep de KoningChief ExecutiveNational Heritage Triangle/Historic New Amsterdam

Fndn Hist. New A'damFederal and State Educational Designation  •   posted 3/19/03 4:22:PMApril 24, 2002The Hon. George E. Pataki Governor, New York State        

State Capitol Albany, N.Y. 12224        The Hon. Michael R. BloombergMayor of the City of New YorkCity HallNew York, N.Y. 10007NATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE*Historic New Amsterdam on Governors IslandLiving Museum-to-ToleranceDear Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg,Now that you have dedicated Governors Island to educational purposes as a condition to receiving jurisdiction from the federal government, we are requesting that you also contemplate reserving an educational subset for our museum park-to-tolerance - Historic New Amsterdam.Intolerance (bigotry) is a permanent feature of the human landscape. It can only be reduced through broad awareness, intellectual conceptual understanding, acceptance as a requirement for a civil society and continual vigilance.The museum park’s construction will restore and preserve a historic message of profound meaning to the nation by recalling a catalytic historic event that took place on Governors Island in 1624. The park will thus serve as a template for a message of apposite importance to the nation and the world: Tolerance.Our proposed historical park on Governors Island carries a powerful global message, creates a positive image of New York and the nation to the world and, now, is of even greater appeal to the world. Its message within our suggested National Heritage Triangle* is in the perfect spot and of national significance.It is imperative that the pertinent authorities understand that the National Heritage Triangle can only become reality if Washington, Albany and New York City are willing to subscribe to its message and cooperate to make it happen.It is their and your prerogative to make it happen.                 Sincerely,Joep de KoningChief ExecutiveNational Heritage TriangleHistoric New Amsterdam

Fndn Hist. New A'damComponents of Unity (Concordia)  •   posted 3/19/03 4:40:PMDecember 20, 2002The Hon. Senator William Frist                 Majority Leader416 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510                 cc: The Hon. George W. Bush, President of the United States of America

        The Hon. George E. Pataki, Governor of the State of New York        The Hon. Michael L. Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York        Mr. Andrew Card, Jr., Chief of Staff, The White House        Mr. Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary, The White House        Ms. Karen P. Hughes, Counsel Emeritus to the President, The White House        Mr. Karl Rove, Senior Adviser to the President, The White HouseRE: National African-American Museum in National Heritage Triangle/Historic New Amsterdam*Dear Senator Frist,Congratulations on your election by acclamation to Senate Majority Leader.Last week’s episode involving Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has taught us that ENDURING NATIONAL AWARENESS OF AMERICA'S IDEOLOGY OF CULTURAL PLURALISM AND TOLERANCE IS AMERICA'S ONLY UNIFYING IMPLEMENT. Its historic locus is Governors Island* as the source in the year 1624.After 378 years, America has a unique opportunity to conserve its highly relevant, thematic patrimony by again making Governors Island the country’s contemporary iconographic center of America’s ultimate virtue of tolerance** by explicitly devoting the island to that specific purpose.The enclosed summary booklet explains what needs to be done to do so. We look forward to having your interest, initiative and proactive support for helping realize this symbol for the nation in 2003.Sincerely,Joep de KoningChief ExecutiveNational Heritage Triangle/Historic New Amsterdam

From WALTER CRONKITE

Moral, Philosophic and Patriotic Base  •   posted 5/1/03 9:49:PMApril 28, 2003The Hon. George E. Pataki         Governor, New York StateState Capitol Albany, N.Y. 12224The Hon. Michael R. Bloomberg          Mayor of the City of New YorkCity HallNew York, N.Y. 10007The Hon. Randy Daniels         Secretary of State        41 State StreetAlbany, NY 12231-0001AMERICA’S ULTIMATE VIRTUEDear Governor Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg and Secretary of State Daniels,Walter Cronkite wrote: "YOUR CONCEPT FOR THE CONVERSION OF GOVERNORS ISLAND PROVIDES

A MORAL, PHILOSOPHIC AND PATRIOTIC BASE THAT SHOULD CONSIDERABLY AUGMENT THE ARGUMENT TO KEEP THAT INVALUABLE HERITAGE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND OUT OF THE HANDS OF THE COMMERCIAL DEVELOPERS".His statement sums up why you, and the State and City Legislators, as guardians and defenders of New York’s unique 1624 patrimony for the benefit of future generations, must approve the concept of the meaningful, not-for-profit Tolerance Park — of immense touristic and educational value. The alternative would be a meaningless commercial development.By liking and supporting the concept, you, representing the long-term interests of the State and the City, can create the altruistic National Heritage Triangle composed of America’s fundamental virtues.This decision is not the prerogative of appointees or employees of State and City agencies with their established ties to commercial and for-profit interests. As of February 1, 2003, you, as Governor, Mayor and Chairman of GIPEC, must act to save the State’s priceless heritage.Do you “AGREE” or “NOT AGREE” with Walter Cronkite? Do you “LIKE” or “NOT LIKE” the concept of the Tolerance Park?                Sincerely,                Joep de Koningcc: Senate Majority Leader J. Bruno, Assembly Speaker S. Silver, Assembly Majority Leader P. Tokasz, City Council Speaker A.G. Miller and all City and State Legislators

Nat Heritage Triangl Defining the Message  •   posted 5/1/03 9:58:PMApril 8, 2003Mr. Charlie Rose         New York, NY PRESERVATION OF NEW YORK’S UNIQUE THEMATIC PATRIMONYDear Mr. Rose,The companion skeleton information provides the rationale for the composition of an island triad of America’s fundamental values in New York harbor. By designating 50 acres to Historic New Amsterdam as a museum park-to-tolerance, New York will have devoted Governors Island to the American symbol of tolerance thus composing the National Heritage Triangle*.Last night, on PBS’s “Charlie Rose”, you seemed to be in agreement with former Ambassador Richard Holbrooke that we need an “affirmative message of our values”; that we need a “long sustained war on ideas”; that we need something to “help define the message” to “challenge the bigoted, intolerant radicals wrecking the global village”. These words could have been picked straight out of our nearly six year effort to accomplish just that.You may probably know that the legal-political infrastructure that was planted on Governors Island in 1624 established it as the cradle of the State’s, if not the nation’s, distinct, thematic patrimony of toleration — New York’s unique contribution to America’s cultural history.The National Heritage Triangle would restore New York’s cultural legacy of tolerance for the nation — an educational message of global significance that could be well served with your interest and advocacy.You may note that for two political terms we have been — and still are — hoping to receive a single response from any one politician in Washington, Albany and New York City. Only you can ask them the question: Why

the deadly political silence to the envisaged National Heritage Triangle?        Sincerely,        Joep de Koning        Chief Executivecc: Ambassador Richard Holbrooke

Fndn of Hist New Ams

GLOBAL EDUCATIONAL MESSAGE  •   posted 5/1/03 10:07:PMApril 7, 2003Mr. Joel I. Klein        Schools Chancellor, Board of EducationThe Tweed CourthouseChambers Street, NY, NY 10007PRESERVATION OF NEW YORK’S UNIQUE THEMATIC PATRIMONYDear Chancellor Klein,Governor Pataki’s recent appointment of Mr. Benno Schmidt, Jr. to chairman of the City University of New York is without doubt an expanded opportunity to reinvigorate CUNY.We continue to believe (see reverse) that that there is compatibility or potential synergy between CUNY’s interest in Governors Island and our planned adjoining not-for-profit education and history project.As you most probably know, the legal-political infrastructure that was planted with the first settlers on Governors Island in 1624 established the island as the cradle of the State’s distinct, thematic patrimony of toleration — New York’s unique contribution to America’s cultural history.The companion skeleton information provides the rationale for the composition of an island triad of America’s fundamental values in New York harbor*. By designating 50 acres to Historic New Amsterdam as museum park-to-tolerance, New York will have devoted Governors Island to the American symbol of tolerance.The National Heritage Triangle, thus constituted, would restore New York’s cultural legacy of tolerance — an educational message of global significance that would be well served with your interest and advocacy.If you have any questions or comments, please advise.        Sincerely,        Joep de Koning        Chief Executivecc: Deputy Chancellor Diana Lam, State Education Commissioner Richard P. Mills, Senate Education Committee and Chair Stephen M. Saland, Assembly Education Committee and Chair Steven Sanders, City Council Education Committee and Chair Eva S. Moskowitz, Secretary of State Randy Daniels

Fndn of Hist New Ams

GLOBAL ACADEMIC FOCUS  •   posted 5/1/03 10:17:PMMay 20, 2002Mr. Benno C. Schmidt, Jr.         Vice Chairman, Board of TrusteesThe City University of New York535 East 80th Street, 3rd floorNY, NY 10021Dear Mr. Schmidt,

CUNY’s campus, planned to be situated within our proposed National Heritage Triangle*, would be infused with intellectual value by becoming associated with America’s symbols and fundamental values. It could become the global academic focus of scholarly discussions on issues of religious, ethnic and racial tolerance.Designating the island for educational purposes was undoubtedly predicated on our August 20, 2001, recommendation to President Bush and, subsequently, to Governor Pataki and Mayors Giuliani/Bloomberg to use the precedent of the 1785 Land Act as the basis for acceptance of our education and history project — Historic New Amsterdam. This not-for-profit museum park-to-tolerance is to be placed as an element in a National Heritage Triangle. We are now in the fifth year of seeking broad political interest, support and state legislative approval for this project.This 1785 historical precedent enables the federal government to donate the island to New York State without having to take into consideration the island’s imputed “dollar” valuation as required by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. This Land Act thus spawned the island’s education dedication and the new idea for a CUNY campus.With CUNY slated to become the island’s main beneficiary, the envisaged National Heritage Triangle can now be realized. Freed from the standard pressures of lobbyists representing diverse economic interests, politicians can consider making a decision that is more reflective of “ethical choice”.In the same way that the idea of a campus has been politically accepted, our museum park also requires to be politically reserved as an educational subset on the island. CUNY’s understanding of, and support for our ongoing quest to receive political approval for our education and history project has therefore become an important component in this process.The enclosed Legislative Resolution addresses issues of history and culture. It cites Governors Island’s role in(i) being the 1624 birth place of New York State, (ii) the source of this country’s legal-political guarantee of tolerance and (iii) the locus of New York’s cultural history. It acknowledges (i)a historic event of great significance to the nation; and (ii) reconfirms historical facts of meaning, substance and relevance to American and, particularly, New York history.Your acceptance and advocacy of our educational subset will be indispensable in making it happen.                        Sincerely,                        Joep de Koningcc: CUNY Trustees , Chancellor Dr. Matthew Goldstein, Vice Chancellor Jay Hershenson        

Fndn of Hist New Ams

NATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE  •   posted 5/1/03 10:33:PMAugust 20, 2001President George W. BushThe White HouseWashington, D.C. 20500Re: NATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLEHistoric New Amsterdam on Governors Island        Dear President Bush,There is historic precedent for the federal government to transfer Governors Island conditionally.

The Articles of Confederation provided for an educational commitment through the Land Act of 1785, one of the Northwest Ordinances, by setting aside land for educational purposes. These Land Acts also conditioned the prohibition of slavery in these territories — America’s earliest commitment of abolition.Setting aside a portion of the island for the creation of the Tolerance Park Historic New Amsterdam for the restoration and preservation of this national heritage would exemplify the United States’s commitment to deliver value of educational and historical significance to its citizens. The United States would thus acknowledge the earliest history of five states (the “middle colonies” or “mid-Atlantic states”) as a building block of profound importance to its development and cultural history.Your understanding of the significance of the now federally-owned island and its intrinsic influence on the development of our nation can help amplify and preserve the traditions of liberty for generations to come.Your thoughtful analysis of this matter, and your apprehension of the enormousness of the creative opportunity that Governors Island represents for the nation, is greatly appreciated. It may result in a National Heritage Triangle of meaning to the nation — if not the world — and of lasting value to all Americans.        Sincerely,        Joep de KoningThe Hon. George E. Pataki, Governor New York State, The Hon. Rudolph W. Giuliani, Mayor of New York City

KidsToday.net worldwide cultural playground  •   posted 6/14/03 3:18:PMMy proposal for this Island is to make a cultural forum for all nations inwhich kids and kids charities are incubated to learn about each other's cultures, raise the awareness of the world environmentally, and allow free speech in all languages.We have a nine point proposal for this end.

Joep de Koning History Corrected  •   posted 11/6/03 5:44:PM

NATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE* Historic New Amsterdam Living Museum-to-Tolerance on Governors Island A historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century NY, NJ and CT A place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY's and NJ's earliest architectural and material culture

139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A. Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452

Ms. Pauline Lauterbach Project Manager, NYC EDC 110 William Street New York, NY 10038

Mr. James Lima President, GIPEC 110 William Street, 6th floor New York, NY 10038

The Hon. Randy Daniels Secretary of State 41 State Street Albany, NY 12231-0001

October 31, 2003 Dear Ms. Lauterbach, Mr. Lima and Secretary Daniels,

This is an urgent request for the NYCEDC and GIPEC to rewrite the section "History of Governors Island" in their Request for Proposals (RFP). Specifically, we request that you include a historical matter of great import to the nation - that the island is the legally recognized birthplace of New York State and the source of American toleration (Senate Resolution no. 5476 and Assembly Resolution no. 2708).

Doubtless, you will understand the significance of these Resolutions when reviewing the historic, republican (not kingly) qualities of economic inclusiveness and social mobility which were first propagated by a merchant class in New Amsterdam (now New York City) interested in the promotion of international free trade, toleration and individual liberty. These values formed the bedrock of New York from which, later, the foundation of the United States as a free republic was forged.

Three days ago, during the annual White House iftar dinner with Islamic leaders, President Bush said that "America rejects all forms of ethnic and religious bigotry". His statement confirms that "TOLERANCE IS THE OXYGEN OF AMERICAN LIBERTY" - that tolerance is America's primary virtue and fundamental to the survival of western civilization. Governors Island is its historical and historic source!

The meaning of this may best be understood by the three-pronged attack on September 11, 2001, which was, after all, a horrific "act of intolerance" committed in the name of religion and designed to set up one religion against another on a global scale - its perpetrators believing in the promise of martyrdom.

The first settlers to what is now Governors Island, New York (a historical fact), had been instructed that "by their example" they were to attract the natives and non-believers to God's word "without however to persecute someone by reason of his religion and to leave everyone the freedom of

his conscience". That's called "toleration". It forever distinguished New York's cultural heritage from its neighbors'. Later, tolerance became the foundation of American liberty (First Amendment).

The first settlers of Jamestown, Virginia, established at once the Church of England and had been instructed that "ALL proper means" should be used to bring the natives to "the knowledge of God and the obedience of the King, his heirs and successors, under such severe pains and punishments as should be inflicted by the respected presidents and councils of the several colonies". That's called "intolerance" which, likewise, accompanied the first Pilgrim settlers (and later the Puritans) to New England (their first landing place, "Plymouth Rock" was a later invention - it never existed).

The current RFP history summary is either an innocent statement demonstrating a profound lack of historical understanding or an intentional attempt to demean the island's significance to the nation by making it the object of popular ridicule by only stating that it "was purchased from Native Americans for two ax heads, a string of beads and a handful of nails". Abundant information has been provided to the City and the State over the last six years for the NYCEDC and GIPEC to know that certain stereotypical stories, purporting to be history, are no more than misinformation.

For example, purchase deeds for land were no more than a legal requirement and a bureaucratic afterthought in the same way that Stuyvesant (the seventh and last director of New Netherland) applied and received the deed for his mansion many years after it had been built, Peter Minuit purchased Manhattan one year after the settlement of Manhattan and after the start of construction of Fort Amsterdam in 1625, and a deed for Noten [Governors] Island needed to be fabricated, 13 years after the island's 1624 settlement; partly because "the island's original inhabitants" were settlers only, never native Americans.

The island had its first fortification and sawmill in 1624 and was actively settled during New York's 17th century period. Governors Island served as a military base for the fourth Director of New Netherland who was stationed there with his troops. He later built and operated a farm on the

island. Furthermore, we have provided you with information that explains why the island was the region's first meeting point of three cultures (1613) and, as a small island, served as an important, easily defended transshipment point in New York's earliest maritime activities and trade with the Hudson River natives (for more information see enclosed letter to Ms. Terry Pristin of the New York Times).

For the above reasons, we would want the NYCEDC and GIPEC to consider the proposed tolerance park "Historic New Amsterdam" on Governors Island as an element in a National Heritage Triangle symbolizing America's fundamental values*. By now, you are intimately familiar with our envisaged park which is to be designed to provide for a universally deeper understanding of American freedom and to impart a message of importance to the destructive forces of [global] intolerance!

We trust that you can and will include some of the above historically significant aspects of Governors Island in your history section rather than using the modern penchant of trying to imbue significance to something where none exists by merely enumerating "celebrity" names that have no relevance to the island's momentous function in the cultural history of New York and the nation.

Sincerely,

Joep de Koning

bcc: The Hon. Messrs. J. Bruno, S. Silver and P. Tokasz

* The Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam is a public, not-for-profit, 501 (C) (3) organization that seeks to establish a National Heritage Triangle in New York harbor. The Triangle would represent America’s three fundamental values of tolerance, freedom and welcome as embodied by Governors Island, Liberty Island and Ellis Island, respectively. The notion of tolerance will be symbolized by a 50-acre, not-for-profit, Historic New Amsterdam park as a museum park-to-tolerance. Tolerance was planted as a legal-political condition on American shore by New York’s first official settlers who disembarked on Governors Island in

1624 — the birth date of, amongst other, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It was America’s earliest pluralistic community — an enlightened culture of inclusion and diversity — unprecedented at the time. It constitutes the basis of New York’s cultural history and derives from the one non-English society that founded a colony among the original thirteen. Freedom has no meaning in an intolerant society. Tolerance, therefore, precedes liberty. It is New York’s unique contribution to the nation and requires one’s respect and considerateness as an implicit gift to another. 

This Message Was Edited At 2:11:PM On 02/28/04 by the AdminJoep de Koning NY Times Metro Article  •   posted 11/6/03 5:54:PM

Ms. Terry Pristin Reporter, Metro Section The New York Times 229 West 43rd Street NY, NY 10036-3959 February 24, 2003

Re: YOUR FEBRUARY 23 METRO ARTICLE

Dear Ms. Pristin,

For your edification we have enclosed some historical information on Governors Island (for 174 years Noten Eylant or Nutten Island in Pidgin English). You may deduce that there is no basis for the February 23 statement that “the strategic value of Governors Island apparently went unrecognized by the Dutch settlers who acquired it in 1637”.

In fact, Noten Eylant was the centerpiece of the newly discovered territory where it served as the locus for European trade with the Hudson Valley natives since 1610. The island’s strategic value as a defensive position had become unquestioned and, as a result, the States General of the Dutch Republic recognized the island’s central importance in the settlement of the province of New Netherland by explicitly selecting it to become the place of first settlement in 1624. These first New Netherland settlers (i.e., first New Yorkers) built Governors Island’s first defensive fortification and saw mill (see picture and Legislative Resolution). As such,

the island is the 1624 birthplace of New York State.

Your reference to the 1637 date —no more than an after-the-fact legal confirmation of possession and settlement—is misleading (see 4/17/02 letter to Senator Bruno). It has no significance as a milestone and mentioning it only hides the strategic and historic importance of the island in the settlement and development of the United States. The legal-political infrastructure that was planted in 1624 established the island as the cradle of the State’s distinct, thematic patrimony of toleration: New York’s unique contribution to America’s cultural history (the First Amendment).

Furthermore, the original Fort Jay had no resemblance with the much later reconstructed “star-shaped Fort Jay”. The current structure, therefore, has neither historic nor historical value. Moreover, neither the original nor the reconstructed Fort Jay had any relevance to the War of 1812 nor did it anything to help “deter a British attack on New York”. Fort Jay’s only historic significance is that it is situated on the original defensive position built by the 1624 settlers.

If you would like to learn more about this we suggest that you contact Prof. Dr. Leo Hershkowitz at (516) 868 2753 or Dr. Charles Gehring at (518) 474 6067.

Sincerely,

Joep de Koning Chief Executive

CC: New York Times: Mr. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., Mr. Howell Raines, Mr. Gerald M. Boyd, Mr. John M. Geddes, Ms. Soma Golden Behr, Mr. Michael Oreskes. Mr. Tom Bodkin, Mr. Andrew Rosenthal, Ms. Carolyn Lee, Mr. Allan Siegal, Mr. Craig Whitney, Ms. Gail Collins, Mr. Philip Taubman, Mr. John Landman, Mr. Steven Erlanger , Mr. William P. McDonald , Ms. Jodi Kantor, Ms. Susan Edgerley, Mr. James c. McKinley Jr., Mr. Gustav Niebuhr, Ms. Geraldine Fabrikant, Ms. Sarah Slobin, Mr. Michael Cooper, Mr. Edward Wyatt, Mr. Jayson Blair, Ms. Diane Cardell, Mr. John Noble Wilford, Mr. Eric Lipton, Mr. Clyde Haberman, Mr. Thomas J. Lueck, Mr. Raymond Hernandez, Mr. Andres Martinez, Ms.

Joyce Purnick, Mr. John Tierney, Ms. Barbara Stuart, Mr. Herbert Muschamp, Mr. David W. Dunlap, Mr. Frank Rich, Mr. Bill Keller, Mr. Thomas L. Friedman, Mr. Richard Pérez-Peña

Fndn Hist N. Amsterd

Master Planning Process  •   posted 11/15/03 11:00:AM

AMERICA’S ULTIMATE VIRTUE

July 2, 2003

Ms. Pauline Lauterbach                Project ManagerNew York City Economic DevelopmentCorporation110 William StreetNY, NY 10038

Dear Ms. Lauterbach,

We were delighted to receive your June 20 invitation to discuss the NYCEDC Governors Island Master Planning Process and our National Heritage Triangle/Historic New Amsterdam proposal. It isn’t clear what letter exactly you referred to that prompted your invitation. Therefore, we are enclosing a summary overview which may serve also as input to the public master planning process which you are to commence shortly.

The booklet comprises the most salient information that forms the crux of our six-year long effort to build political consensus and support for the preservation of New York’s unique thematic patrimony of tolerance on its historic source — Governors Island. America’s cultural heritage of tolerance and liberty — mutually dependent notions and quintessential New York values — has emerged to the fore of modern American society with tolerance as its ultimate virtue.   It fosters harmony-in-difference and lays the groundwork for a deeper and enduring understanding of liberty.

Overt political recognition of this requisite dual-notion as the successful foundation of American heterogeneity, and to be illustrated in a legally sanctioned 50-acre park-to-tolerance, would devote Governors Island —

the 1624 birthplace of New York State — as the iconographic symbol of American tolerance in a National Heritage Triangle. This island triad would thus symbolize the nation’s core values of tolerance, freedom and welcome.

The museum park-to-tolerance — Historic New Amsterdam — would be of national importance, typically New York and superbly American, while of great cultural value to western civilization.

After you have had an opportunity to peruse the enclosed, please give me a call to set up a convenient date enabling you to explain the planning process that could make the park-to-tolerance become reality.

Sincerely,

Joep de Koning

cc: The Hon. Randy A. Daniels, Chairman, GIPEC        

Fndn for Hist. New A National Heritage Triangle  •   posted 11/6/03 6:01:PM

Museum Park-to-Tolerance on Governors Island Historic New Amsterdam A historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century NY, NJ and CT A place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural and material culture

Since 1997, the Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam ("HNA"), a public, not-for-profit, 501 (C) (3) organization has been seeking political approval for the creation of a NATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE in New York harbor. The envisaged iconographic island triad would represent America's fundamental values of TOLERANCE, FREEDOM and WELCOME as embodied by Governors, Liberty and Ellis islands, respectively.

       These symbols would recognize that the requisite dual notion of tolerance and liberty is the successful foundation of American heterogeneity. They would compose America's ubiquitous image for the defense of tolerance and liberty - the nation's ultimate and mutually dependent virtues. The dynamic value of tolerance will be symbolized by Historic New Amsterdam as a museum park comprising semi permanent exhibits on

issues of religious, ethnic and racial tolerance.

       The legal-political condition of toleration was planted on American shore by New York's first settlers who disembarked on Governors Island in 1624 - the place and date of birth of, amongst other, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It was America's earliest province based on the legal guarantee of cultural pluralism - an enlightened community of inclusion and diversity - unprecedented at the time.

       Tolerance is the basis of New York's cultural history and derives from the one non-English society that founded a colony among the original thirteen. Freedom has no meaning in an intolerant society - witness the 1930's or the September 11, 2001 destruction of the Twin Towers.

       TOLERANCE IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF AMERICAN LIBERTY. It is New York's 1624 thematic legacy and the State's unique, historic contribution to the nation. It is an indispensable element in the survival of Western Civilization and requires one's respect and considerateness as an implicit gift to another.   

Excerpt from Form 1023 pertaining to IRS tax-exempt status

HNA has been formed to develop and establish a historical park on the lower one-third portion of Governors Island that finds its roots in New York’s earliest written history. The 50-acre park is to serve as an outdoor museum, built along New Amsterdam’s (now New York City’s) street plan of 1660. Its main thematic function is to serve as America’s omnipotent symbol-of-tolerance because tolerance was a legal-political guarantee and unarguably the province’s most important contribution to the future of the United States. The park’s programming would recall and preserve the historic themes of New York’s childhood that laid the groundwork for many of America’s most durable political and social institutions. Concepts of ethnic and religious toleration, and civic and economic inclusiveness, for example, were then first introduced to America. The envisaged park would promote the American message of harmony-in-difference by recognizing the fundamental freedoms of others. It would create enduring awareness of New York’s thematic legacy of cultural pluralism and tolerance thus fostering continued unity among America’s increasingly diverse population. Additionally, it would be a showcase of seventeenth-century New York architecture and culture and would educate and entertain its visitors about America’s first diverse community [Native-Americans, African-Americans and European-Americans] that thrived on inclusion thus becoming profoundly important to America’s cultural history. The meaningful living museum-to-tolerance will be a permanent reminder that in a diverse society, individual liberty will not be possible without tolerance, the foundation of which was laid on Governors Island in 1624 – the year of New York State’s birth.

Upon concept approval by the pertinent political jurisdictions, a detailed plan will be created that, together with the full cooperation of New York State and New York City, and the support of The Hague, will result in a

Master Plan for Historic New Amsterdam.

All efforts of HNA are exclusively directed toward making Historic New Amsterdam become reality starting with political approval in 2001 and resulting in the official opening in the year 2009 — 400 years after Henry Hudson’s discovery of the mighty estuary that was to become the lifeline of New York.

************* 

This Message Was Edited At 2:09:PM On 02/28/04 by the AdminFndn Hist. New AmsteCONCEPT STATEMENT  •   posted 11/6/03 6:05:PM

CONCEPT STATEMENT for HISTORIC NEW AMSTERDAM MUSEUM PARK-TO-TOLERANCE on GOVERNORS ISLAND by the “Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam” Historic New Amsterdam is conceived as a not-for-profit historical park or living museum comprising museum functions (indoors and outdoors) and various commercial activities (historical amusement, entertainment, marina, hospitality, retail). The park's purpose is to recall and preserve the historic themes of New York's seventeenth-century childhood that were essential to the building of some of America's most durable political and social institutions.

Historic New Amsterdam's main thematic function is to serve as America’s symbol of tolerance — a precious prerogative in seventeenth-century New Amsterdam (now New York City) where freedom of conscience and religion, and the ability to seek redress of grievances, were guaranteed by law as enshrined in the Fatherland’s 1579 constitution. This tradition of tolerance enabled New Amsterdam's burghers to seek protection from intolerant rulings by petitioning to the highest levels of government in the Fatherland, and this they did.

A petition in1649 led to the first municipal charter in North America. A petition in 1654 rooted the Jewish community in North America. The famous "Flushing Remonstrance" of 1657 stated that the "law of love, peace and liberty in the states extend[s] to Jews, Turks [Muslims], and Egyptians [Gypsies]" in New Netherland. And the John Bowne petition of 1663 ensured liberty for Quakers. In seventeenth-century America, the battle for tolerance was first fought on Manhattan Island. The strength of constitutionally protected diversity in New Amsterdam served as an enduring example to the growth of the American nation.

The theme of tolerance, so timely today, is both complementary to and compatible with the nearby Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island and the Immigration Museum on Ellis Island. The Statue and the Immigration Museum, which serve as symbols of freedom and welcome to the nation and to the world, are major tourist draws. In the same way, Historic New Amsterdam, with its focus on tolerance issues, will carry a meaningful

message to the world, while serving as a place of educational and cultural importance — and fun and positive cash flow as well. The open-air museum’s intrinsic message will be forever relevant to the continued well-functioning of the nation — if not the world—while enhancing the meaning of liberty-for-all.

Historic New Amsterdam park is envisioned as providing the visitor with an innovative experience and an authentic sensation of walking physically through New Amsterdam of the period 1660-1700. Behind the reconstructed, architecturally unique facades of America’s first seventeenth-century urban buildings will be a wealth of historical, cultural, and twenty-first-century commercial activities, services and museum functions (with permanent exhibits on religious, ethnic and racial tolerance). Additionally, the park, as open-air museum, may comprise original, historic dwellings representative of the period thus showcasing New Netherland’s (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Pennsylvania—later called the “Middle Colonies”) earliest architectural and material culture.

The Historic New Amsterdam tolerance park will be situated on approximately 30% of Governors Island that lies about 500 yards south of Manhattan in the mouth of the East River. It will complete an iconographic island triad, symbolizing America’s fundamental values, in New York harbor—THE NATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE.

Fndn Hist. New Amste

Nat. African American Museum  •   posted 11/6/03 6:11:PM

The Hon. Senator William Frist December 20, 2002 Majority Leader 416 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510 cc: The Hon. George W. Bush, President of the United States of America The Hon. George E. Pataki, Governor of the State of New York The Hon. Michael L. Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York Mr. Andrew Card, Jr., Chief of Staff, The White House Mr. Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary, The White House Ms. Karen P. Hughes, Counsel Emeritus to the President, The White House Mr. Karl Rove, Senior Adviser to the President, The White House National African-American Museum in National Heritage Triangle/Historic New Amsterdam*

Dear Senator Frist,

Congratulations on your election by acclamation to Senate Majority Leader.

Last week’s episode involving Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has

taught us that enduring national awareness of America’s ideology of cultural pluralism and tolerance is America’s only unifying implement. Its historic locus is Governors Island* as the source in the year 1624.

After 378 years, America has a unique opportunity to conserve its highly relevant, thematic patrimony by again making Governors Island the country’s contemporary iconographic center of America’s ultimate virtue of tolerance by explicitly devoting the island to that specific purpose.

The enclosed summary booklet explains what needs to be done to do so. We look forward to having your interest, initiative and proactive support in helping to realize this symbol for the nation in 2003.

Sincerely,

Joep de Koning

Fndn Hist. New Amste

Nat. African American Museum  •   posted 11/6/03 6:14:PM

NATIONAL AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM ON GOVERNORS ISLAND New York. Why will the National African-American Museum be a fundamental component of the proposed 50-acre museum park-to-tolerance — Historic New Amsterdam — on Governors Island?

For the African-American population, liberty, in a historical context, has been mostly an abstract concept — in an intolerant society, the notion of liberty is of little consequence. Tolerance, therefore, precedes liberty and, yet, they are mutually dependent. Tolerance is an active attitude prompted by recognizing the fundamental freedom of others. It is harmony in difference — an indispensable realization in a pluralistic society. The inherent significance of tolerance to liberty-for-all-Americans was only attained with the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Governors Island as a symbol of American tolerance, when popularly acknowledged, enhances the Statue of Liberty’s relevance for all. Tolerance is the legacy of New York’s unique cultural heritage with its

root of individual liberty. Historic New Amsterdam, therefore, will reflect on racial, ethnic and religious tolerance issues.

In the fifteenth and sixteenth-centuries, Africans were highly valued by Europeans as interpreters. They were free men in the employ of various European trading and exploratory ventures. Originally, they were hired by the Portuguese who taught them Portuguese so they could help in subsequent voyages to Africa. Later, their specialty was valued in negotiations with natives of the Americas. Mulattos were also employed and as early as the beginning of the seventeenth-century one such mulatto became the first recorded resident of Noten Eylant in New York harbor (renamed Governors Island in 1784).

In 1612 - 1613, Jan Rodrigues from Santo Domingo, a Latin-American of African ancestry, was hired by the private Dutch fur trader Thijs Volckertsz Mossel, captain of the ship named De Jonge Tobias. Rodrigues served as interpreter and was used in trade negotiations with the Hudson River Indians. However, Rodrigues and Mossel did not get along and when, in the New York Bay area in 1613, Mossel came into conflict with the competing private Amsterdam fur trader and explorer Adriaen Block, Block employed Rodrigues as his on-the-spot factor to trade with the natives.

Rodrigues was the first person to summer on Governors Island in mid-1613 when he was left behind as a free man to rendezvous with Block again in December 1613. Governors Island, therefore, carries a meaning of historic as well as cultural importance to the descendants of three continents — it was the center for European trade with the Hudson Valley natives and was also the region’s first meeting point of three cultures.

In addition, the island was the documented place of first settlement of a colony of 30 families in 1624 and thereby the official place-of-birth of the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. These settlers planted the legal-political condition of their fatherland on the North American continent, thus making Governors Island the source of America’s

ideology of cultural pluralism and tolerance.

The 1624 landing — of national thematic significance and relevance — together with the island’s position in New York harbor next to the Statute of Liberty, make the island the most meaningful and, therefore, preferred location for the National African-American Museum. Its place in Historic New Amsterdam is guaranteed.

**************** 

This Message Was Edited At 2:06:PM On 02/28/04 by the Admin

NY State Legislature Legislative Resolution  •   posted 11/6/03 6:27:PM

State of New York Legislative Resolution Senate No. 5476 Assembly No. 2708 BY: Senators Marchi, Farley and Johnson

BY: Committee on Rules at the request of M. of A. McEneny, Silver, Canestrari, Englebright, Morelle, Markey, Cahill, Christensen, Colman, Cook, Destito, Farrell, Glick, Gordon, Gottfried, Gromack, Gunther, Jacobs, Lavelle, Mayersohn, McLaughlin, Millman, Ortiz, Prentiss, Schimminger, Seddio, Sidikman, Sweeney, Tonko and Townsend

MEMORIALIZING Governor George E. Pataki to recognize the official place and date of birth of the State of New York as being Governors Island in the year 1624

WHEREAS, At the start of the 12-year armistice (1609-1621) between the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands (the Dutch Republic) and Spain, Captain Henry Hudson, commissioned by the [Dutch] East India Company and aboard the ship Halve Maen (Half Moon), arrived in the River Mauritius (Hudson River) as the first official explorer representing the Dutch Republic; Hudson conducted New York’s first recorded commercial transaction in 1609 which formed the basis for ongoing private commercial interests in the fur trade for that region; and

WHEREAS, Various private commercial entities from the Republic had competed for a share in the fur trade in the Hudson River regions since 1610 and, for the purpose of obtaining a fur-trading monopoly,

amalgamated into the New Netherland Company on October 11, 1614; and

WHEREAS, The New Netherland Company was the result of the explorations, from 1611 through 1614, of the Amsterdam explorer and private commercial fur trader, Adriaen Block; the first explorer of any country to chart the eastern coast of what is now Marblehead Bay, north of Cape Cod, to the Hudson River, and who named it New Netherland; and

WHEREAS, Upon the end of the armistice and the creation of the [Dutch] West India Company in 1621, the Dutch Republic sought to effectuate a cultural transplantation on the North American continent by way of an eighth province for the purpose of imposing its sovereignty onto the territory, now extending south to the Delaware Bay, through the delegated authority of the West India Company; and

WHEREAS, The West India Company recalled all private commercial parties operating in the New Netherland territory in 1621 and 1622 and invalidated all private commercial interests, thus voiding the law of the ship as only legal recourse in the region; and

WHEREAS, The Dutch Republic officially established its institutional, administrative and cultural infrastructure onto the New Netherland territory by planting its first colony of thirty families on Noten Eylant in 1624 (renamed Governors Island in 1784); these colonists had disembarked on Governors Island in the summer of 1624 from the ship named “New Netherland” under the command of Cornelis Jacobszoon May (as in Cape May in New Jersey); and

WHEREAS, In June, 1625, forty-five more colonists disembarked on Governors Island from three ships named Horse, Cow and Sheep which also delivered 103 horses, steers and cows, in addition to numerous pigs and sheep - thus successfully completing the Republic’s first planting of a colony in 1624, and extrapolating the Republic’s culture, its 1579 Constitution and legal-political guaranty of tolerance onto the North American continent; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to memorialize Governor George E. Pataki to recognize the official place and date of birth of the State of New York as being Governors Island in the year 1624, continuing a heritage from Dutch settlers which will endure even as New York City contemplates possible new uses for the island, such as facilities for The City University of New York; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the New Netherland infrastructure formed the foundation for New York’s continuing development and that the cultural imprint of the New Netherland community, upon relinquishing political control to the English in 1674, had a profound and enduring impact on New York’s unique cultural

heritage; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to George E. Pataki, Governor of the State of New York.

ADOPTED IN SENATE ON May 14, 2002

John J. Marchi

By order of the Senate,

Steven M. Boggess, Secretary

ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY ON May 30, 2002 John J. McEneny

By order of the Assembly,

Karen L. McCann, Acting Clerk

Draft Legislation Tolerance Park  •   posted 11/6/03 6:46:PM

The Hon. John J. Flanagan Chairman, Committee on Ethics New York State Senate, 817 LOB Albany, NY 12247 REQUEST FOR DRAFT LEGISLATION

September 11, 2003

Dear Senator Flanagan, (1 Can you support the creation of the National Heritage Triangle composed of an island triad in New York Harbor and symbolizing America's fundamental values?

(2 Will you, therefore, sponsor a bill that recognizes the MEANING of the 172-acre Governors Island to New Yorkers and acknowledges its enduring HISTORIC AND SYMBOLIC SIGNIFICANCE to the nation?

(3 Are you prepared to thus stipulate that 30% of Governors Island (New York State's 1624 birthplace and the nation's source of toleration) will be devoted to America's ultimate virtue of tolerance — the

creation of Historic New Amsterdam as a not-for-profit, 50-acre Tolerance Park on federally-funded landfill created in 1901?

(4) Could New York City's Central Park have been feasible if the decision for its creation had been left to local commercial interests and local politics only?

(5) Would the 843-acre Central Park have been possible without your explicit interest and express approval 150 years ago?

In the same vain, can the National Heritage Triangle/Historic New Amsterdam living museum-to-tolerance come into existence without your initiative and express support?

On September 11, 1609, Captain Henry Hudson sailed through the Narrows into New York Harbor thus covertly introducing to this continent New York's cultural heritage of toleration and pluralism. Today, we are at the midpoint of (1) having tried for the preceding six years to receive political acceptance of New York's unique, historic patrimony as an element in an island triad symbolizing America's fundamental values; and (2) the official opening of the museum park-to-tolerance Historic New Amsterdam on Governors Island, which we had hoped could take place on 9/11/2009 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's 1609 discovery.

The favor of your personal answer with respect to questions two and three would be much appreciated — this is your history, your patrimony, your decision.

Sincerely,

Joep de Koning

cc: All members of the NY State Assembly and the New York State Senate

Fdn Hist New Amsterdam Official Request for Unibill  •   posted 11/6/03 7:33:PM

July 10, 2003 The Hon. Stephen M. Saland The Hon. Steven Sanders Chairmen, Committee on Education New York State Legislature Albany, NY 12247

The Hon. George Maziarz The Hon. Joseph D. Morelle Chairmen, Committee on Tourism New York

State Legislature Albany, NY 12247

The Hon. John J. Flanagan The Hon. Mark Weprin Chairmen, Committee on Ethics New York State Legislature Albany, NY 12247

OFFICIAL REQUEST FOR DRAFT LEGISLATION (UNIBILL)

Dear Senators Saland, Maziarz and Flanagan,

This is our official request to have your and your Committees’ sponsorship of a bill which will legally reserve 50 acres of federally-funded landfill for a not-for-profit, privately financed and operated tolerance park—Historic New Amsterdam—on 172-acres-large Governors Island.

Governors Island is the 1624 birthplace of New York State and the historic source of American toleration. Now the White House has devoted the island to the theme of education and transferred federal jurisdiction over it to the State for one dollar, it is the State’s obligation to recapture its significant history on behalf of its citizens. It is your prerogative as State Legislators to do so by acting on behalf of the American people and to approve the proposed education and history project of New York’s unique patrimony of tolerance. All elements are now in place for you to ratify the 50 acre Tolerance Park that requires, like New York City’s 843-acre “Central Park”, the prior legal commitment from the State Legislature.

The meaning of the “somewhat intellectual” active virtue of tolerance can best be found by searching the NY Times under the heading “tolerance”, “toleration” or “intolerance” thus resulting in hundreds of illuminating entries. Yet, there is little actual popular awareness of tolerance as a precursor to and an essential ingredient of individual liberty—which is a static notion. The enduring educational value of tolerance in a pluralistic society is an indispensable element of its civil well-being. Both the active and passive notion—tolerance and liberty—are mutually dependent.

There are many precedents for our proposed park the world over. For your information, though, we are enclosing two pages which describe a similar (but not the same) open-air, museum park in the Netherlands.

We trust that you can give the proposed legislation consideration and look forward to working with you on the first draft. The favor of a thoughtful reply would be much appreciated. Sincerely,

Joep de Koning

cc: The Hon. G. Pataki. The Hon. J. Bruno, The Hon. S. Silver, The Hon. M. Bloomberg, The Hon. Paul A. Tokasz, The Hon. Charlie Nesbitt, The Hon. David A. Paterson

Fdn Hist New Amsterdam URGENT LEGISLATION  •   posted 1/15/04 11:42:AM

Historic New Amsterdam*

Living Museum-to-Tolerance on Governors Island

A historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century NY, NJ and CT

A place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY's and NJ's earliest architectural and material culture

139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452

January 15, 2004

The Hon. Joseph L. Bruno        Majority Leader, New York State Senate909 LOB Albany, NY 12247

Ref: Our September 11, 2003 request to you for sponsorship

TOLERANCE IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF LIBERTY

Dear Majority Leader Bruno,

This is to remind you that we need your sponsorship for the preservation and enjoyment of the state's priceless thematic patrimony on the state's most meaningful landmark:

Legislative Resolutions no. 5476 and no. 2708 legally recognize Governors Island as an unexploited, historic asset for ALL Americans - a resource to be mined for the common good by being the origin of

American tolerance and the birthplace of New York State.

It will be your legacy to tap this vital reservoir for the lasting remembrance of New York's unique cultural heritage and the enduring edification and inspiration of the nation's citizenry.

Only your sponsorship and political courage can unearth this buried treasure. Your altruistic action is indispensable in the execution of the important Historic New Amsterdam vision for the eternal gain and pride of, specifically, the citizens of this State.

Tolerance is the lifeblood of American liberty and fundamental to the survival of western civilization - this is your history, your heritage, your future, your decision.        (i) Please, let us know of your interest in uncovering this store of value for the benefit of all by mandating Historic New Amsterdam as a 50-acre tolerance park on Governors Island.         (ii) What are the specific requirements, if any, which would compel you, personally, to sponsor legislation that would reserve the park (1) for the benefit of your current constituents and New York State's future generations and (2) as a beacon of America's ultimate virtue to the world?

(iii) Alternatively, please inform us why the park [safeguarding the State's historic legacy as a cultural resource] does not deserve your sponsorship as State Legislator?

Sincerely,

Joep de Koning

cc: State and City Legislators        

Fdn Hist New Amsterdam EDUCATION DEDICATION  •   posted 1/19/04 2:31:PM

Foundation* for Historic New Amsterdam

A historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century NY, NJ and CT

A place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural

and material culture

139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452

Education and History Committee

Dr. Charles T. Gehring                                Director, New Netherland ProjectNew York State Library, Albany, New York

Dr. Oliver Rink, Author        Chairman, History Department California State University, Bakersfield, California

Dr. Patricia Bonomi, AuthorProf. Emeritus, History DepartmentNew York University, New York City

Dr. Leo Hershkowitz, AuthorProf. History Department, Queens College at CUNY, New York City

Dr. Firth Fabend, AuthorColonial Historian,Upper Montclair, New Jersey

Dr. Joyce D. Goodfriend, AuthorProf. History DepartmentUniversity of Denver, CO

NATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE*Historic New Amsterdam on Governors IslandLiving Museum-to-Tolerance

April 12, 2002

The Hon. Joseph L. Bruno        Majority Leader, New York State Senate909 LOB Albany, NY 12247

Dear Senator Bruno,

We are delighted to know that Governors Island will be devoted to the concept of education as per April 1 White House directive. This pronouncement augurs well for our educationally significant National Heritage Triangle which can only be realized when so accepted by New York State, New York City and the federal government, jointly.

The State Senate ought to be instrumental in determining the value to New York of (i) the American symbol of tolerance in New York’s harbor thus exemplifying New York’s unique contribution to American liberty, when toleration was planted as a legal-political guarantee on Governors Island upon the birth of New York State in 1624 - a momentous occasion of national significance; and (ii) the proposed museum park’s placement in a National Heritage Triangle, the sum of which is immeasurably larger than its component parts.

By combining Governors Island’s tangible and intangible value, our proposal will create the highest possible “fair market value” for the island as required by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. However, the intangible value will only be released upon your acceptance of the proposed not-for-profit museum park-to-tolerance - “Historic New Amsterdam” (see April 3 letter to Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg).

We hope that your interest in your heritage may enable you to subscribe to the American symbol of tolerance in New York harbor. The proposed multi-function living museum-to-tolerance will result in a unique development of (i) great educational significance to the United States and the world and (ii) superlative tourism value to New York.

As Mayor Bloomberg said: “Leadership is there to make sure that the concepts are what this city and this state and this country needs.” Therefore, it also takes the “the State Senate” to give this project the scrutiny and support it deserves to make it happen.

The favor of a reply with regard to the above would be appreciated.

Sincerely,

Joep de Koning

cc: NY State Senate and Assembly, NY City Council        

* The Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam is a public, not-for-profit, 501 (C) (3) organization that seeks to establish a National Heritage Triangle in New York harbor. The Triangle would represent America’s three fundamental values of tolerance, freedom and welcome as embodied by Governors Island, Liberty Island and Ellis Island, respectively. The notion of tolerance will be symbolized by a 50-acre, not-for-profit, Historic New Amsterdam park as a museum park-to-tolerance. Tolerance was planted as a legal-political condition on American shore by New York’s first official settlers who disembarked on Governors Island in 1624 — the birth date of, amongst other, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It was America’s earliest pluralistic community — an enlightened culture of inclusion and diversity — unprecedented at the time. It constitutes the basis of New York’s cultural history and derives from the one non-English society that founded a colony among the original thirteen. Freedom has no meaning in an intolerant society. Tolerance, therefore, precedes liberty. It is New York’s unique contribution to the nation and requires one’s respect and considerateness as an implicit gift to another.                

Prof. Leo Hershskowitz

NY Times OpEd article  •   posted 11/6/03 6:32:PM

A “Long” History of a Small Island Americans may finally learn from Governors Island

By Prof. Dr. Leo Hershkowitz

October 31, 2002, New York. On October 11, in the New York Times, Daniel P. Moynihan described a “short” history of Governors Island. In doing so he overlooked the basic importance of the island - that as the site of the first settlement of present New York. It is where toleration was first planted and then nourished. “The law of love, peace and liberty” in the Dutch Republic extends “to Jews and Turks” to the “glory of the outward state of Holland ----”, were words expressed by Quakers on Long Island in the 1657 Flushing Remonstrance. These thoughts were here accepted rights long before their adoption in the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Early settlers referred to their legal right to toleration as promulgated in the 1579 Utrecht Constitution which was enforceable in New Netherland (present-day NY, NJ and CT). It stated that “each person shall remain free, especially in his religion, and that no one shall be persecuted or investigated because of their religion”. This became the foundation of New York, and later, American pluralism.

New York’s cultural heritage began when the first colonists landed on Governors Island in 1624 and 1625. They brought with them not only cattle but, more importantly, concepts of liberty and toleration. They were specifically instructed that, by their example, they were to attract the natives and non-believers to God’s word “without however to persecute someone by reason of his religion and to leave everyone the freedom of his conscience”. This libertarian heritage lived on, even after the provisional surrender to the English.

In March 1664, King Charles II resolved to annex New Netherland and to “bring all his kingdoms under one form of government, both in church and state [and there] to install the Episcopal government as in old England”. The [Dutch] West India Company, unwilling to accept Charles II threat of religious discrimination but not inclined to defend liberty with force, tried to comfort Director-General Peter Stuyvesant, in April 1664, by writing that we “are in hopes that as the English at the north (in New Netherland) have removed mostly from old England for the causes aforesaid, they will not give us henceforth so much trouble, but prefer to live free under us at peace with their consciences, than to risk getting rid of our authority and then falling again under a government from which they had formerly fled”.

We now know that the New Netherland province, at the time not forcibly defended, came under attack when, in September 1664, four English frigates entered the East River and demanded its surrender. However, Stuyvesant astutely negotiated a conditional transfer of New Netherland to the English which included the guaranty that the colonists “shall keep and enjoy the liberty of their consciences in religion”. It was this notion of religious toleration that, as mentioned, found its way in the New York and, ultimately, the United States Constitution.

We know that in 1639 a Muslim owned a farm on Manhattan and that in 1654 a group of Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews were given residency when the Company wrote Stuyvesant that “they shall be allowed to sail to and trade in New Netherland and also be allowed to reside and settle there”. This rooted the first Jewish community on the North American continent. There were also Lutherans, Catholics, Mennonites and Baptists among many other sects and nationalities.

Pluralist New Amsterdam - an extension of the Dutch experience with its heritage of liberty, freedom and toleration - prepared the foundation for New York’s subsequent greatness and freedoms we so cherish today. Tolerance is an active and fundamental notion. It formed the bedrock of New York City where the first battles of American tolerance were fought. 9/11 reminds us that this struggle is an ongoing process - that tolerance

and liberty are mutually dependent.

Governors Island, marking the beginning of this tradition, is of historic significance, thematic importance and immense relevance to the nation. Since 1997, we have sought political support for a not-for-profit, museum park-to-tolerance on the lower 1/3rd portion of the island. This education and history project would release the island’s, currently obfuscated, embedded value for the defense of tolerance and liberty.

We are still endeavoring to build political consensus among the City, Albany and Washington politicians so that the island can become an element in a national, historic, iconographic triad - Governors, Liberty and Ellis islands - where the long held ideals of this nation can be further advanced and developed. What is needed for Governors Island is not a “short” but a “long” and fully understood history.

*****************

Dr. Leo Hershkowitz is an author and professor of History at Queens College. He is a director of the Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam and a member of its Education and History Committee.

Roland Rogers NYC's 350th - Interfaith Meeting  •   posted 11/6/03 6:53:PMOpening words by Roland Rogers, President of NYC350 at the Open Air Interfaith Service in Bowling Green on Manhattan, May 4, 2003 *************As President of the Committee for New York City's 350th Anniversary celebration I'd like to thank everyone for coming out on this bright sunny afternoon. What you are about to hear are messages of hope and of commonalty that we share as New Yorkers. As we plant the spiritual seed of opportunity for a better future, let us not forget those who died to make the present possible.Today is a wonderful opportunity for New York to speak out in support of tolerance and individual freedom as an answer to those whose actions or beliefs favor the opposite — intolerance, tyranny, injustice, division and ignorance. You know that in an intolerant society, the notion of freedom is meaningless.This city was founded and built by people from various parts of the world under the umbrella of toleration as guaranteed by the laws of the Dutch Republic in the year 1579. It was those very first settlers who planted that legal-political condition onto our shores — on Governors Island — in the year 1624 when they were explicitly instructed to "not persecute someone by reason of his religion and to leave everybody the freedom of his conscience".We've made these connections this year — New York City's 350th anniversary year as an incorporated municipality — by having Dutch, French, English, African, Eastern Europeans and Native Americans join together in celebration of a unique experience.By creating a deed in 1626 between natives and settlers, Director Pieter Minuit took legal possession of Manhattan Island and confirmed the settlement that had taken place around Fort Amsterdam in 1625. His

deed formed the basis for the cultural struggle for toleration by a religiously, ethnically and racially diverse population.The explicit 1645 patent of religious freedom for Flushing (in the Borough of Queens) and the subsequent Flushing Remonstrance concluded the settlers’ efforts for toleration as an express legal right in New Netherland. We can therefore state that the first struggle for American toleration was fought on Manhattan Island. It resulted in the most religiously diverse group outside the Dutch Republic; unique at a time when anywhere else it was unpopular, and even unlawful, to respect the rights and opinions of others in matters of religion.As we stand here together today, 350 years after the transformation of the town of New Amsterdam into a city with municipal rights and its own legislature — on the very sacred ground which signals the right of people to govern themselves, a right born of struggle that all men are truly created equal under God — we note that the combination of the initial settlers' legal right to seek redress of grievance and to toleration, assured the continuation of these principles to become the framework for eventual American greatness. It was New Netherland’s last Director, Pieter Stuyvesant, who handed the territory to the English on the condition that its citizens “shall enjoy the liberty of their consciences in religion”.Toleration as a precondition to individual liberty, thus planted first in North America on Governors Island in 1624 and an implicit legal right of Manhattan’s first burghers, is identical with the first article of the Bill-of-Rights and now a fundamental part of the American heritage; that government "shall not abridge the right of people to petition the government for a redress of grievances" and "shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof".So let us all — gathered here today, where Pieter Minuit stood on May 4, 1626, to secure the settlers’ use of Manhattan in perpetuity, an action subsequently replicated in millions of real estate transactions to become the world's most valuable land and most diverse City — proclaim that the community of “tolerance, diversity and inclusion" which our City represented more than any other from those earliest days, is an indispensable realization for all free men in a pluralistic society. That beginning with this 350th anniversary year of our City's self-government, “harmony-in-difference” will continue to be our most cherished goal until all Americans embrace it as their own, now and forever.Again, thank you all for joining us and now allow me the honor to introduce our distinguished guest speakers from a variety of religious communities who will give true meaning to this day and are gathering here with their words ...................*******Sponsored by the Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam/National Heritage Triangle

Fdn HistNewAmsterdam

Introduction/Hist. Relevance  •   posted 11/6/03 7:01:PMNATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE Historic New Amsterdam Living Museum-to-Tolerance on Governors Island A historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century NY, NJ and CT A place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural and material cultureIntroductionSeventeenth-century New York instilled values of tolerance and liberty into American culture which were

fortified in succeeding centuries.Designating Governors Island as the iconographic symbol of America’s ultimate virtue of tolerance—next to the symbols of freedom (Liberty Island) and welcome (Ellis Island)—is of immense national educational and historical value, particularly after 9/11. Historic New Amsterdam, as a museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island, would release the island’s intangible historic value to become a tangible element in an island triad featuring America’s fundamental values in New York harbor. This National Heritage Triangle composed by the not-for-profit, 50-acre Tolerance Park deserves a chance to succeed and needs your caring, proactive support.Since jurisdictional transfer of the island from the federal government to New York, on January 31, 2003, only State and City politicians can make it happen. Key individuals would be Governor George Pataki, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Assembly Majority Leader Paul Tokasz, City Council Speaker Gifford Miller and the State Legislature’s Committees on Education, Tourism and Ethics. In the way that the 150-year old, 843-acre Central Park became only possible with the State Legislature’s approval, the 50-acre Tolerance Park on Governors Island must similarly be mandated by the State Legislature.The United States notions of tolerance, liberty and freedom were values embedded in New York’s origins upon the 1624 planting of the legal-political infrastructure by the first settlers on Governors Island. Their arrival transformed the territory into the province of New Netherland (then stretching from Cape Cod to the Delaware Bay) by nullifying the law of the ship as only legal recourse. The new burghers used their constitutional right to petition to the highest authorities by frequently exercising their legal right to freedom of conscience and religion (now First Amendment issues). We can therefore state that the first battles of American toleration, a requisite element of individual liberty, were fought in New Amsterdam (now New York City) on Manhattan Island.Only at the beginning of the 18th century—marked by the 1702 death of King William I of England, also Stadholder Willem III of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands—did New Netherland’s political influence begin to wane. By that time, New York was well past infancy and into adolescence. Childhood had formed New York’s personality—one based on the ideological foundation of cultural pluralism. It would forever remain part of New York’s unique cultural heritage and laid the basis of the American nation to come.Not knowing where one comes from, rejecting one’s past or trivializing one’s upbringing would be like being lost in space, to sail rudderless in an infinite ocean. Understanding New York’s childhood, what it represents or stands for, is not just knowing your roots by looking into the past but also comprehending the world we live in today and providing the guide that will help lead us into the future. It would certainly help make us understand what it means to be an American — tolerance is New York’s cultural patrimony.Joep de Koning, Founder and Chief Executive, Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam/National Heritage Triangle (batavier1@aol.com)HISTORICAL RELEVANCE OF HISTORIC NEW AMSTERDAM ON GOVERNORS ISLANDCultural SynopsisThe history of the province of New Netherland and, at its center, the town of New Amsterdam (now New York City), is of profound importance to the development of the United States. For it was during this period that concepts of religious and ethnic toleration*, and civic and economic inclusiveness were first introduced to this

continent by the republic of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands. These are the very ideals which form the bedrock of American culture and political philosophy. Unfortunately, New Netherland’s influence on America’s institutions and traditions are not well known to the ordinary person. Yet, law courts based on the Dutch model fostered the development of an orderly community in New Netherland; charters along Dutch precedents established local town governments in the 1640s and 1650s; and, representational government had its inchoate origins in New Netherland’s Board of Nine Men, which took Director-General Stuyvesant and his Council to task for maintaining their predecessors’ lack of concern for the province’s overall general welfare.Other facts not widely known regarding New Netherland’s contributions to American culture include the incorporation in 1653 of New Amsterdam as a municipality modeled on the Dutch style, with courts of justice and a system of poor relief also modeled on that of Amsterdam. The right to rebel against tyranny, freedom of the press, freedom of conscience, all can be traced to New York when it was known as New Netherland. Not only had the Dutch Republic’s Constitution, the Union of Utrecht, in 1579 guaranteed that each person shall remain free, especially in regard to one’s religion, and that no one shall be persecuted because of religious belief, but the Union of Utrecht was also an inspiration for Benjamin Franklin’s “Join, or Die” philosophy expressed in 1754, and eventually for the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution. Even more interesting, the language and ideology of the Declaration of Independence so strongly reflect that of the Dutch Act of Abjuration of 1581, declaring Dutch freedom from Spanish tyranny, that many scholars believe Thomas Jefferson used it as one of the models for the Declaration.Therefore, the legacy of New York’s earliest diverse community did not end at the English takeover of New Netherland. One does not go to bed a New Netherlander and wake up the next morning as a British colonial. New Netherland lives to this very day in America’s cultural history, its political institutions, and in its political and civic culture. Its commending themes and messages, embedded in America’s foundations, have had not only a lasting impact on our nation but are also immensely relevant for our society today. They are New York’s legacy to America’s ideology of cultural pluralism—an essential value of Western civilization worth defending.Signed: Education and History Committee

* The Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam is a public, not-for-profit, 501 (C) (3) organization that seeks to establish a National Heritage Triangle in New York harbor. The Triangle would represent America’s fundamental values of tolerance, freedom and welcome as embodied by Governors Island, Liberty Island and Ellis Island, respectively. The notion of tolerance will be symbolized by a 50-acre, not-for-profit, Historic New Amsterdam museum park-to-tolerance. Tolerance was planted as a legal-political condition on American shore by New York’s first official settlers who disembarked on Governors Island in 1624 - the birth date of, amongst other, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It was America’s earliest pluralistic community — an enlightened culture of inclusion and diversity — unprecedented at the time. It constitutes the basis of New York’s cultural history and derives from the one non-English society that founded a colony among the original thirteen. Freedom has no meaning in an intolerant society. Tolerance, therefore, precedes liberty. It is New York’s unique, historic contribution to the nation and requires one’s respect and considerateness as an implicit gift to another.

Fdn Hist New Six Year Summary, Political  •   posted 11/6/03 7:10:PM

Amsterdam SIX YEAR SUMMARY NATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE/HISTORIC NEW AMSTERDAM MUSEUM PARK-TO-TOLERANCE TO: ALL NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATORS September 11, 2003 September 11, 2003 We have visited Governors Island various times with federal officials prior to February 1, 2003, when it was still federal property. Meanwhile, we have tried to meet with State and City politicians and their political appointees for six years on this subject.Many thousands of people on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean are intimately familiar with what the Foundation is trying to accomplish. Over a hundred thousand letters have been distributed since 1997 to ALL the politicians in the City and State as well as the appropriate ones in the federal government whereunder the Congressional Delegations of Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut and various pertinent committee members in the U.S. Senate and the House.We have worked diligently and consistently with all the key persons in the White House under presidents Clinton and Bush, the two presidents directly themselves and their cabinets including the Transportation Department, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Justice Department and the White House Counsel, the Treasury Department, the Commerce Department, The Office of Management and Budget, the Interior Department, the National Park Service, the General Services Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Education Department and the State Department.A similar, less intensive effort has been directed towards the Netherlands and Belgium, the focus however being on The Hague in The Netherlands with the private sector as a secondary effort. The Governors Island issue was on the White House agenda in the year 2000 when the Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok visited with President Bill Clinton. We also have asked President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Balkenende, during a White House meeting on September 3, 2003, to discuss the future cultural contribution to the success of the tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam. The project has been featured in The Netherlands on national television, several radio stations, all national newspapers as well as many local ones and various specialty magazines on history and tolerance in Belgium.In the U.S. the project received coverage many years ago in the New York Observer (a tongue-in-cheek article and therefore misrepresenting the project which is not about me) and Newsday, various “little” publications and a radio station. The NY Times hasn’t mentioned the proposed National Heritage Triangle/Museum Park-to-Tolerance so far.Three major milestones have been accomplished thus far: (1) On April 1, 2002, the White House devoted the island to the theme of education thereby wiping out the covert commercial operators and facilitating the not-for-profit Education and History Project; and (2) on January 31, 2003, the federal government transferred the island for the sum of one dollar to the State and the City when legally it was no longer possible; namely, after September 2001 the island could only be sold legally to the highest bidder by auction. We had found however a legal precedent to circumvent that law and accordingly recommended it to the White House, the State and the City in the interest and to the benefit of (i) ALL Americans, (ii) the State, and (iii) the City; and (3) in May 2002, the New York State Senate and the Assembly legally designated Governors Island as the official birthplace of New York State and the source of American toleration.As the State and the City had been unwilling to acknowledge our existence and efforts, we thought that perhaps our requests for meetings were not answered because they were not accompanied by the [perhaps

required] perception that [local] “power and money” were sitting at the table. As a result, we went about delivering what we thought had been the problem or had been missing and got a potential Netherlands-based joint venture partner specialized in the restoration and reconstruction of 17th century buildings to visit New York to tour the island and to make a pledge of $100mm to help construction. As that visit went unrecognized, we found a West Coast individual interested in providing funding up to $1billion for the tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam under certain conditions.Under no circumstance, however, were we beholden to these “money” interests as, frankly, their financial and operational interests were not compatible with our image for the project. But at least, overt financial backing was available for every politician to see in case that “money” had been a perceived stumbling block. Anyway, we don’t believe in patronage and insist on remaining independent during this political process in order to accomplish purity of vision and execution. However, in spite if these explicitly stated available money sources (not “local” money and therefore perhaps politically not of interest), we received neither a political response out of Albany and New York City nor received the hoped-for meetings to move the project along.We are now trying to get the Bush-Cheney 04, Inc. Campaign and the Republican National Convention to adopt New York’s unique thematic patrimony of tolerance as their motto for the New York Convention in the year 2004. Whether the “Campaign” will do so is another matter. It would however be unimaginable that the 2004 Republican New York Convention would pass up on this opportunity to prominently feature New York’s cultural heritage and thus to broaden President Bush’s appeal to the citizenry here.We are summarizing all this so that you will realize that six years of political silence must have a reason. It must mean that we are simply competing with “local” power and/or money interests who have succeeded in excluding us from the process which, our project being not-for-profit, is a slam dunk for them so long we can’t get the State Legislature to sponsor and sanction the 50-acre park on the 1624 source of American toleration and the birthplace of New York State.Ours is not a turnkey commercial project but will evolve over the years in the same way that “Mystic Seaport”, “Sturbridge Village”, “Colonial Williamsburg” and “Plimoth Plantation” have grown organically. For example, over 80 percent of all visitors to Mystic Seaport in Connecticut come from New York. Wouldn’t it be great for those New Yorkers to come, study and enjoy their own 17th-century history in Historic New Amsterdam?For the same reason that Central Park would never have come into existence unless sanctioned by the State Legislature, the not-for-profit tolerance park on Governors Island would also need to be mandated by the State Legislature. All ingredients to have Historic New Amsterdam happen are still in place thanks to the Bush administration’s conditions for the island’s jurisdictional transfer from the federal government to New York State on January 31, 2003. It is now only up to the State and City to accept the Historic New Amsterdam concept which will involve a 99 year lease for $1 per year for the underlying 50 acres of federally funded landfill (created in 1901) out of the 172-acre large island.On September 11, 1609, Captain Henry Hudson sailed through the Narrows into New York Harbor thus covertly introducing to this continent New York's cultural heritage of toleration and pluralism. Today, we are at the midpoint of (1) having tried for the preceding six years to receive political acceptance of New York's unique, historic patrimony as an element in an island triad symbolizing America's fundamental values; and (2) the official opening of the museum park-to-tolerance Historic New Amsterdam on Governors Island, which we had hoped could take place on 9/11/2009 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's 1609

discovery.The above summary of our activities can be fully backed up. Altruistic political leadership for the proposed National Heritage Triangle/Historic New Amsterdam living museum is the remaining ingredient required to help its political advance which is now entirely in the hands of Albany (the Governor, the Legislature) and the Mayor for its final political approval. With best wishes and thanks for your interest. Joep de Koning (Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam/National Heritage Triangle)

NEWSDAY, May 24 2001

BEACON OF HISTORY  •   posted 11/15/03 11:00:AMNEWSDAY, MAY 24, 2001MAKE GOVERNORS ISLAND A BEACON OF HISTORYGovernors Island: a place where New York beganBy Joep de KoningNew York has a golden opportunity to turn Governors Island into a unique historic park provided that the State Legislature seizes the moment.Last week, it was reported that the Justice Department had prepared a memo recommending that the federal government sell the former military base for $300 million. Before President Bill Clinton left office, he signed a proclamation designating two sites on the island – Castle Williams and Fort Jay – as federal monuments and giving the National Park Service three years to come up with a plan for the rest of the island. In fact, he offered the island to the state for a dollar if New York could agree on its future development. Now the fate of the island is in doubt.Today, few people know about the important role Governors Island played in early American history, when in 1624 four shiploads of settlers and cattle from the Netherlands landed there.That was the birth of New York State. The legal, institutional and administrative infrastructure the Dutch colonists and their successors planted on Noten Island, as it was called then, became the imprint on which our diverse nation was built and the growth of a just and civil society became possible. Their blueprint was responsible for New York’s extraordinary ongoing development and for today’s immigrant culture.It is in keeping with that spirit that we have proposed to build Historic New Amsterdam on a third of Governors Island. Along the lines of Colonial Williamsburg, it would popularly recognize this historically significant American period for all Americans to embrace and enjoy. We have been trying to persuade the New York Senate and Assembly to commit New York to the Historic New Amsterdam vision, provided it receives the island from the federal government for one dollar.Earlier this year, we appealed to two legislative leaders to sponsor a bipartisan bill. But sponsorship is still wanting. A rare historical opportunity is slipping a way into a political quagmire. Historic New Amsterdam on Governors Island can be a self-sustaining historical national monument for young families and create great tourism value for New York. It can serve as a symbol of importance to the nation within a National Heritage Triangle, comprising Governors Island, Liberty Island and Ellis Island or, if you like, tolerance, freedom and welcome.It can only be saved through the willingness of particular individuals in differing political jurisdictions to embrace their common American heritage and to communicate. If New Yorkers and their elected officials were to care, the Congress would care too, and future New Yorkers would be the richer for it.Let’s look at some aspects of this vital legacy. A 1657 New Netherland document preserved in the Queens

Historical Society stated that “the law of love, peace and liberty” also extends to “Jews, Muslims and Gypsies” in New Amsterdam (New York City). This sentence sums up why the strength of legally protected diversity in New Amsterdam served as an enduring example to the development of the nation; why New York became the preferred entry point for millions of immigrants.Who knows today that various provisions of the Constitution were rooted in New York’s earliest beginnings and that some inalienable birthrights, such as the First Amendment, were already affording legal protection to New York’s early 17th-century burghers – well before the Constitution’s ratification in 1791?Freedom has no meaning in an intolerant society. Tolerance, therefore, precedes liberty and is New York’s unique gift to the nation. This legacy will be represented by our proposed, not-for-profit commemorative park, Historic New Amsterdam, which would replicate New Amsterdam’s original street plan for lower Manhattan.If the state doesn’t act soon, especially in light of the Justice Department’s interpretation, then New Yorkers, if not all Americans, will lose a great opportunity to restore America’s 17th-century patrimony and make our distinctive history come alive. Let the lesson of tolerance that formed the basis for the city’s enlightened culture of inclusion and diversity take root in Historic New Amsterdam and bloom on Governors Island.

New York Times, 11-27-03

THE UN-PILGRIMS  •   posted 12/3/03 5:34:PMTHE NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2003The Un-PilgrimsBy Russell ShortoPUTNAM VALLEY, N.Y. — Three hundred and eighty years ago, a huddled band of Europeans set out across the Atlantic to seek a new life in the wilderness America. They survived hardship, gave thanks, ate turkeys and eventually flourished. And every year at Thanksgiving we ignore them.No, I'm not talking about the Pilgrims, nor about that other sect often hailed as progenitors of America, the Puritans. There was another group of settlers at the start of things. You might call them the un-Pilgrims, for they lack the neat mythic qualities that won the Plymouth residents their plum role in the national epic. Rather, the Dutch colony of New Netherland — which had as its capital New Amsterdam, precursor to New York City — has a ragged historical profile, which suits it because it was a jumble of ethnicities and had an excess of pirates and prostitutes. But its mixed nature is precisely the point. These forgotten pioneers forged America's first melting pot, making this holiday a particularly appropriate moment to recognize their achievement.The contribution of these settlers has been overlooked because of that truest of truisms: history is written by the winners. The two great European rivals of the 17th century, the English and Dutch, each planted colonies in America. In time, the English engulfed the Dutch colony, which, we have been told, didn't exist long enough to leave an imprint. But that's not so. Dutch records — now being translated after centuries of neglect — reveal a thriving, complex society growing up alongside the English colonies. In fact, "Dutch" is something of a misnomer. The colony was Dutch, but more than half its residents were not. Then again, "Dutch" is very much the point. It wasn't accidental that Swedes, Germans, Jews and others flocked to this colony, for the Dutch Republic of the 17th century was itself built on a policy of tolerance that made it the melting pot of Europe.The birth of tolerance in the Low Countries changed history. It made Holland the center of publishing, where

Galileo and Hobbes printed their books free of censorship. The Dutch provided haven to exiled English royalty and peasants from across Europe who fled war and repression. It's often forgotten that the English Pilgrims, before taking a flyer on America, went to Holland in their search for religious freedom. They found it and then left for the same reason: they feared that amid the diversity of Holland their children would stray, and so opted to carve out an isolationist settlement in the New World.In one of history's most overlooked chains of influence, this same Dutch tolerance that made the Netherlands the intellectual center of early modern Europe also helped fashion the city of hip-hop and sushi, Korean delis and Arab newsstands. But the influence of New Netherland doesn't end at the shores of Manhattan — or at Breuckelen, or even the tip of "Lange Eylandt." The colony ranged across the Middle Atlantic region, covering parts of five future states. After the English takeover, its residents stayed and simply continued about their lives.This is the region that historians now see as the birthplace of religious pluralism in America: as the origin of the melting pot. Consider some of the cultural odds and ends that came to us from the forgotten Dutch colony. Santa Claus — Sinterklaas — was a saint whose annual arrival was first celebrated in New Amsterdam. Americans eat "cookies" rather than "biscuits" because the Dutch colonists gave their children koeckjes, literally "little cakes," and so gave rise to an Americanism. Such things are unimportant in themselves; collectively, though, they reveal that America's first mixed society never really went away, but is woven into the nation's DNA.The colony centered on Manhattan was always an unruly place. Almost from the start there were 18 languages spoken in the capital's few streets. And even as New Englanders like Anne Hutchinson streamed in, seeking refuge from Puritan rulers, the colony's own most famous leader, Peter Stuyvesant, resisted the growing diversity: he tried to ban Jews and Quakers from settling, but was overruled in the home country. Then there were the 300 or so slaves in the colony — the blanket of tolerance hardly covered them.So no, the colony didn't have sharp outlines suitable for mythmaking, but then again pluralism is a messy business. What's remarkable is that in an age of religious absolutism, persecution and war, this feisty community was busy debating the matter. The accepted thinking of the time was that a mixed society was inherently weak. The Dutch colony proved that by buckling under the more unified front of the English colonists. In the long run, however, the deep strength in the concept of a tolerant, pluralistic society — the ingenious idea that human intelligence could overcome prejudice and lead to a vibrant, vital culture — emerged. The notion flowered in the 19th and early 20th centuries, allowing waves of immigration that further strengthened the country and its ideals.But as powerful a force as tolerance proved to be, it was never elevated to myth. Rather, the other side of that equation — the religious absolutism that spawned the Pilgrim and Puritan sects — had the hardness and firmness suitable for that purpose. In the 1660's, just as New Netherland got its name changed to New York, the first American history books were coming off the presses. These were written in New England by the sons of the first Puritans and Pilgrims, and spun the story of America as one of English religionists on a pilgrimage to a Promised Land. Ever since, America has been blessed or burdened, depending on your point of view, with this idea of Manifest Destiny, of being uniquely chosen by God to do his will.Maybe, with a new era of intolerance upon us, this is a good time to adjust our mythic priorities and give the other, forgotten Pilgrims a place at the Thanksgiving table. After all, the idea of tolerance proved so rich that

mighty things grew up from it: both the greatest city and the most powerful nation on earth. That is surely something to acknowledge, to ponder, and to be thankful for.*********Russell Shorto is author of the forthcoming "The Island at the Center of the World," a narrative history of Dutch Manhattan.

Fndn Hist New Amsterdam

LIFEBLOOD OF LIBERTY  •   posted 11/18/03 2:20:PMHistoric New Amsterdam*Living Museum-to-Tolerance on Governors Island- A historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century NY, NJ and CT- A place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY's and NJ's earliest architectural and material culture139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452

November 18, 2003The Hon. George E. PatakiGovernor, New York StateState CapitolAlbany, N.Y. 12224                TOLERANCE IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF LIBERTYDear Governor Pataki,Legislative Resolutions no. 5476 and no. 2708 legally recognize Governors Island as an unexploited, historic asset for ALL Americans - a resource to be mined for the common good by being the source of American tolerance and the birthplace of New York State.It will be your legacy to tap this vital reservoir for the lasting remembrance of New York's unique cultural heritage and the enduring edification and inspiration of the nation's citizenry.Only your leadership and political courage can unearth this buried treasure. Your altruistic action is indispensable in the execution of the meaningful Historic New Amsterdam vision for the eternal gain and pride of, specifically, the citizens of New York State.Tolerance is the lifeblood of American liberty and fundamental to the survival of western civilization - this is your history, your heritage, your decision.        Please, let us know of your interest in uncovering this store of value for the benefit of all by mandating Historic New Amsterdam as a 50-acre tolerance park on the island.         We look forward to hearing from you.        Sincerely,

Joep de KoningBatavier1@aol.comCC: Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Deputy Mayors* The Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam is a public, not-for-profit, 501 (C) (3) organization that seeks to establish a National Heritage Triangle in New York harbor. The Triangle would represent America's three fundamental values of tolerance, freedom and welcome as embodied by Governors Island, Liberty Island and Ellis Island, respectively. The notion of tolerance will be symbolized by a 50-acre, not-for-profit, Historic New Amsterdam park as a museum park-to-tolerance. Tolerance was planted as a legal-political condition on American shore by New York's first official settlers who disembarked on Governors Island in 1624 - the birth date of, amongst other, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It was America's earliest pluralistic community - an enlightened culture of inclusion and diversity - unprecedented at the time. It constitutes the basis of New York's cultural history and derives from the one non-English society that founded a colony among the original thirteen. Freedom has no meaning in an intolerant society. Tolerance, therefore, precedes liberty. It is New York's unique contribution to the nation and requires one's respect and considerateness as an implicit gift to another.

Fdn Hist New Amsterdam

LIFEBLOOD OF LIBERTY  •   posted 12/23/03 6:42:PME-mail to Governor Pataki, Dec. 23, 2003Dear Governor Pataki, 

We would like to make sure that you are familiar with the National Heritage Triangle which is to be composed by the tolerance park - Historic New Amsterdam - on Governors Island.In view of the White House initiative "Preserve America", begun in March 2003 by First Lady Laura Bush, we would like to receive a response from you about our six year old proposal which would preserve our national heritage on its most historic spot - the legally recognized birthplace of New York State and the origin of American tolerance in 1624. You can find more on this on http://www.gothamcenter.org/discussions/displaythreads.cfm?ForumID=49

The preservation and enjoyment of the nation's and, specifically, the State’s priceless cultural heritage should be close to your heart. Furthermore, as "tolerance is the lifeblood of American liberty", its omnipresent message in New York harbor would be no less powerful than the messages of American freedom and immigration (Liberty Island and Ellis Island). The island is therefore a “trophy” asset for the state as its thematic legacy is of national, state and local importance.

Without doubt, the National Heritage Triangle would be the apex of cultural/heritage tourism for the state while stimulating economic development and strengthening New York's regional identity and pride.We will need your active interest for the political recognition and preservation of this historic island which is of great national significance to America's cultural patrimony. There are no more "deadlines" to meet so only your (and the White House's) interest and initiative can help in gaining state legislature approval for the project in 2004.

We look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely,

Joep de Koning

Bcc: The Hon. Bernadette Castro, Commissioner New York State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

Fdn Hist New Amsterdam

LIFEBLOOD OF LIBERTY  •   posted 1/8/04 2:12:PME-mail to Mayor Bloomberg, January 7, 2004Dear Mayor Bloomberg, 

With the start of the year 2004, we would like to make sure that you are familiar with the National Heritage Triangle which is to be composed by the tolerance park - Historic New Amsterdam - on Governors Island.In view of the White House initiative "PRESERVE AMERICA", begun in March 2003 by First Lady Laura Bush, we believe that our six year old proposal deserves the city's earnest consideration as it would preserve our American heritage on one of its most historic spots - the legally recognized birthplace of New York State and the origin of American tolerance in 1624.You can find more on this on http://www.gothamcenter.org/discussions/displaythreads.cfm?ForumID=49

The preservation and enjoyment of the nation's and, specifically, the State and the City's priceless cultural patrimony should be close to your heart. Furthermore, as "tolerance is the lifeblood of American liberty", its omnipresent message in New York harbor would be no less powerful than the messages of American freedom and immigration (Liberty Island and Ellis Island). The island is therefore a "trophy" asset for the state and the city as its thematic legacy is of national, state and local importance.

Without doubt, the National Heritage Triangle would be the apex of cultural/heritage tourism for the state and city while stimulating economic development and strengthening New York's regional identity and pride.We would need your active interest to gain political recognition of the state's thematic patrimony on the state's most meaningful landmark - Governors Island. There are no more "deadlines" to meet so only the city's (and the state's) interest and initiative can help in gaining the approvals necessary for the Historic New Amsterdam project - of great national significance to America's cultural legacy - which had originally been scheduled for opening on the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's discovery of the state's mighty estuary and economic lifeline since 9/11/1609.

We look forward to hearing from you. 

Sincerely,

Joep de Koning

cc: Deputy MayorsPres, Bill J. Clinton State and City to decide  •   posted 12/17/03 10:55:AM

THE WHITE HOUSEWASHINGTONJuly 18, 2000Mr. Joep de KoningChairman and Chief ExecutiveFoundation for “Historic New Amsterdam”15th floor139 East 79th StreetNew York, New York 10021Dear Joep:Thank you very much for getting in touch with me about your proposal to create a “Historic New Amsterdam” on Governors Island.As you may know, I strongly support transferring Governors Island to the State of New York at a nominal cost for public use, and members of my Administration are currently working with representatives from the state and the city of New York to arrange this. Because such a transfer would make the future use of Governors Island a matter for the State and City to decide, I encourage you to contact the appropriate state and city officials to discuss your proposal further. Best wishes.Sincerely,

Bill ClintonFdn HistNewAmsterdam

RIGHT of PETITION, 1st Amendment  •   posted 12/17/03 11:05:AMFoundation for Historic New AmsterdamA historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century NY, NJ and CTA place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural and material culture139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452February 16, 2000President William Jefferson Clinton        The White HouseWashington D.C. 20500        Dear President Clinton,As an ideal legacy to your presidency, this is to petition you, directly, to help with extending the commending theme of tolerance to the nation. The theme of tolerance belonged uniquely to the Middle Colonies’ earliest history among other authoritative themes such as freedom of conscience, freedom of expression and religion, popular sovereignty and natural rights.

Specifically, I am requesting that you will positively consider, use your influence and help effectuate, proactively, the donating of the lower 1/3rd portion of Governors Island to a trust, set up for the specific purpose of creating a “Historic New Amsterdam” park to serve as a permanent educational opportunity and most of all as a symbol of tolerance to all the workers of this great nation.My petition to you is in the spirit of a similar one, in 1649, when some ordinary settlers in New Amsterdam (now New York) availed themselves of their legal right to petition, directly, the highest level of their government for a redress of grievances (the States General of their fatherland). It was the first time in the entire Americas that this legal right was exercised. It resulted in major changes for the American province.That particular legal right, available to all those colonists who resided in what are now referred to as the “Middle Colonies” (Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, as well as part of Connecticut), was finally extended to the thirteen United States of America, 140 years later. It had found its way into the American Constitution via Amendment I of the 1789 Bill of Rights that incorporated various freedoms then insisted upon by the New York delegation under Governor George Clinton.Of the many historic colonial messages of the Middle Colonies, the symbol of tolerance on Governors Island, next to the symbol of liberty on Liberty Island would be a timely reminder that in today’s America there is no place for the forces of intolerance.Please peruse the enclosed letters to Senator Moynihan, Governor Pataki and Mayor Giuliani as they describe the themes of and concept for the Historic New Amsterdam park. As you represent the interest of the nation, rather than regional or local interests, you may be able to endorse a historic message that is still meaningful and pertinent to the successful functioning of American society and more so in the future.Doubtless, your efforts will be essential in helping realize a Historic New Amsterdam park on Governors Island for the benefit of the nation. Like George Clinton, may you also want to insist and leave a legacy.        Sincerely,Joep de KoningFoundercc: Middle Colonies Senators and Members of Congress, NYS Senate, NYS Assembly, NYC Council

Fdn Hist New Amsterdam

Manhattan flanked by Liberty and Tolerance  •   posted 12/17/03 11:14:AMFoundation for Historic New AmsterdamA historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century New York, New Jersey and ConnecticutA place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural and material culture139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452Education and History CommitteeDr. Charles T. Gehring        Dr. Oliver Rink, Dr. Patricia BonomiDr. Leo Hershkowitz

Dr. Firth FabendDr. Joyce D. GoodfriendApril 24, 2000President William Jefferson Clinton        The White HouseWashington D.C. 20500Re: MANHATTAN FLANKED BY LIBERTY AND TOLERANCE.Dear President Clinton,The enclosed map, engraved in 1650, represents New York’s colonial heritage that is profoundly important to America’s cultural history. The map depicts the exact situation of 1648, fifty-one years prior to the founding of Williamsburg, Virginia. The specific 1648 colonial community, residing in what later became ”the Middle Colonies”, embraced diversity through constitutionally protected tolerance unlike the adjoining colonies.The legal right to free exercise of religion in early New York, for example, preceded by 167 years the 1791 ratification of that particular right in the Bill of Rights. Today, many accepted birthrights in America are contemporaneous to various legal rights then exclusively available to all the particular colony’s burghers [and natives]. Tolerance was thus innate to New York’s historical root and an implicitly American legal right in 1624 when the first official colonists settled on Governors Island*.The conceived Historic New Amsterdam park would therefore stand as a vigilant message of 1625 New Amsterdam to the nation [when Fort Amsterdam was built on Manhattan Island] against prejudice toward minorities, discrimination, anti-Semitism and violence. It would serve as a visual reminder that all members of a civil society deserve inclusion and must have access to the full range of democratic rights.This message of tolerance, thus extended to the nation and the world, would help rally civil society against the forces of intolerance in times of need. Broad awareness, knowledge and understanding of this historic message could have served, for example, as a lesson to help prevent mistakes and shortcomings by many nations in the 1930’s and 1940’s.Our previous Presentation booklet to you points out that, without explicit political approval of the Concept Statement, private investor-sponsors will stay away. Furthermore, you may agree that the historic and long-term importance to the nation of a Historic New Amsterdam park as symbol of tolerance ought to transcend local or short-term political considerations regarding a Governors Island development.With the various governments agreeing to reserve and donate, collectively, the 50 acres of underlying landfill for the construction of a Historic New Amsterdam park, they will amplify a 1624 American message of tolerance to be noticed and heard. It belonged uniquely to colonial New York and was a quintessentially New Amsterdam message. Hence, the Historic New Amsterdam living museum is conceived to be built at The Gateway to the Free World [New York], next to the Statue of Liberty, as a message and symbol of civil society for the world to take notice. This historic and enduring message of tolerance could also be translated into a possible third-millennium structure of architectural greatness as a potential future add-on to the historical park.Sincerely,Joep de KoningFoundercc: All pertinent and interested politicians        

        * “As a picture of our past, as a living reality in our present, for the development of our future, it must be preserved and endowed with greater power and activity” (Under Three Flags, 1923, by Edmund Banks Smith).

Fdn Hist New Amsterdam

WANTON DESTRUCTION  •   posted 12/17/03 11:32:AMNATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE*Historic New AmsterdamLiving Museum-to-Tolerance on Governors IslandA historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century NY, NJ and CTA place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural and material culture139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452Education and History CommitteeDr. David W. Voorhees        Dr. Oliver Rink, Dr. Patricia Bonomi        Dr. Leo Hershkowitz        Dr. Firth Fabend        Dr. Joyce D. GoodfriendJune 14, 2002The Hon. Joseph L. BrunoMajority leader, New York State Senate909 LOB Albany, NY 12247        Dear Senator Bruno,Our answer to the wanton destruction and murder that occurred on 9/11 lies in the creation of the envisaged National Heritage Triangle in New York harbor.Our proposal for Historic New Amsterdam as a Museum Park-to-Tolerance is the response to those who conspire against liberty - who want to ruin Western civilization. In the face of those who want to destroy, we want to build and defend freedom by linking New York’s original 1624 legal-political guarantee of tolerance and liberty with America’s contemporary principles which sustain our heritage.Last month, the State Legislature officially recognized Governors Island as the 1624 birthplace of New York State (then named New Netherland) and the source of America’s legal-political condition of tolerance that culminated in the First Amendment. Together with last April’s dedication of the island to education, jointly, by the U.S. President, New York State Governor and City Mayor, the island is to be viewed as a national historic place of educational and thematic significance.The island can now support a national, long-term vision of meaning and substance rather than a local, short-term development opportunity as it carries the symbolic meaning of “tolerance” in the same way that Liberty

Island symbolizes “freedom” and Ellis Island “welcome”.This New Amsterdam heritage and the message of our Historic New Amsterdam project are today, more than ever, of particular importance for the people of this country. Our proposal will preserve, explain and promulgate the values we have taken so often for granted. It should receive public and political attention. It deserves your attention and support.Again, this project is our answer to those forces which seek the wanton destruction of Western civilization. It safeguards your vested self-interest in this society. It preserves your children’s and grandchildren’s future.What is your answer to terror, murder and barbaric intolerance?Sincerely,Joep de KoningBatavier1@AOL.com

cc: NYS Senate, NYS Assembly, NY Congressional Delegation, Governor George E. Pataki, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, NYC Council, Directors LMR Corporation                                        * The Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam is a public, not-for-profit, 501 (C) (3) organization that seeks to establish a National Heritage Triangle in New York harbor. The Triangle would represent America’s three fundamental values of tolerance, freedom and welcome as embodied by Governors Island, Liberty Island and Ellis Island, respectively. The notion of tolerance will be symbolized by a 50-acre, not-for-profit, Historic New Amsterdam park as a museum park-to-tolerance. Tolerance was planted as a legal-political condition on American shore by New York’s first official settlers who disembarked on Governors Island in 1624 - the birth date of, amongst other, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It was America’s earliest pluralistic community - an enlightened culture of inclusion and diversity - unprecedented at the time. It constitutes the basis of New York’s cultural history and derives from the one non-English society that founded a colony among the original thirteen. Freedom has no meaning in an intolerant society. Tolerance, therefore, precedes liberty. It is New York’s unique contribution to the nation and requires one’s respect and considerateness as an implicit gift to another.

Ambassador Schneider

UNSOLICITED LETTER  •   posted 3/16/04 1:47:PMEmbassy of the United States of AmericaThe HagueThe NetherlandsFebruary 7, 2000Cynthia P. SchneiderAmbassadorThe HonorableGeorge E. PatakiGovernors of New YorkState CapitolAlbany, NY 12224Dear Governor Pataki,

I hope that you will give careful consideration to the thoughtful proposal of Joep de Koning, Chairman of The Batavia Group Ltd., to establish a historic “New Amsterdam Park” on Governors Island. You have a unique opportunity to bring to life a fundamental aspect of American history. Active as our partners in security, economic, and humanitarian matters all over the globe, the Dutch share with us a common history in overthrowing a foreign power to establish a republic based on democratic principles. John Adams, America’s first envoy to the Netherlands, noted that “The originals of the two republics are so much alike that the history of one seems but a transcript of the other.”As devoted as you might be to the living memory of the history of New York, naturally you also need an economic rationale to support such a large project. As Governor of the state with the cultural capital of the world, I doubt you need persuading on the revenue value of cultural tourism. I am certain that you are aware that more people attend museums than professional sports. You have the opportunity to create a second [Colonial] Williamsburg; I hope you will take it.Sincerely yours,Cynthia P. Schneidercc: Mr. Joep de Koning

Fdn Hist New Amsterdam

ULTIMATE VIRTUE  •   posted 12/17/03 1:30:PM        NATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE*Historic New AmsterdamLiving Museum-to-Tolerance on Governors IslandA historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century NY, NJ and CTA place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural and material culture139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452July 7, 2003The Hon. Bernadette Castro, Commissioner New York State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic PreservationExecutive Offices, Agency Building 1Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12238AMERICA’S ULTIMATE VIRTUEDear Commissioner Castro,It was immensely disappointing to find again no mention of Governors Island’s true meaning to New York State as well as the nation in the “Treasured Island” article of the NY State Preservationist, volume 7/no.1.During our six-year long effort to build political consensus and support among Washington, Albany and NY City for the preservation of New York’s unique thematic patrimony of tolerance on its historic source — Governors Island — we haven’t seen one “official” reference to the island’s importance to America’s cultural heritage of tolerance and liberty — mutually dependent notions and quintessential New York values — which has emerged to the fore of modern American society with tolerance as its ultimate virtue.On Page 3, The Preservationist states that “defense works on the island can be dated with certainty as early

as 1776”. Yet, New York State ought to know that “with absolute certainty” the island’s first defensive position was a “fort” built 152 years earlier, in 1624, by the first settlers who planted the legal political condition of American tolerance on what was then called “Noten” Island.Overt political recognition of this requisite dual-notion as the successful foundation of American heterogeneity, and to be illustrated in a legally sanctioned 50-acre park-to-tolerance, would devote Governors Island — the legally recognized 1624 birthplace of New York State — as the iconographic symbol of American tolerance in a National Heritage Triangle. This island triad would thus symbolize the nation’s core values of tolerance, freedom and welcome.The museum park-to-tolerance — Historic New Amsterdam — would be of national importance, typically New York and superbly American, while of great cultural value to western civilization. The park would foster harmony-in-difference and lay the groundwork for a deeper and enduring understanding of liberty.As recently as June 13 we provided you with some updated materials on this project. We have no idea why New York continues to deny itself expressly its meaningful cultural patrimony of tolerance. What exactly must be done for the state to embrace its significant, unparalleled heritage and make the park-to-tolerance become reality?Sincerely,Joep de Koningbcc: The Hon. G. Pataki. The Hon. J. Bruno, The Hon. S. Silver, The Hon. M. BloombergFor some web postings see: http://www.gothamcenter.org/discussions/displaythreads.cfm?ForumID=49        

Fdn Hist New Amsterdam

Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation  •   posted 12/17/03 1:36:PM        NATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE*Historic New AmsterdamLiving Museum-to-Tolerance on Governors IslandA historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century NY, NJ and CTA place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural and material culture139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452Education and History CommitteeDr. David W. Voorhees        Dr. Oliver Rink, Author        Dr. Patricia Bonomi        Dr. Leo Hershkowitz        Dr. Firth Fabend        Dr. Joyce D. GoodfriendJune 13, 2003The Hon. Bernadette Castro, Commissioner New York State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic PreservationExecutive Offices, Agency Building 1

Empire State PlazaAlbany, NY 12238AMERICA’S ULTIMATE VIRTUE

Dear Commissioner Castro,We are enclosing five double-sided yellow pages for your examination. They summarize the crux of our proposal for a tolerance park on Governors Island. There are many precedents for historical parks the world over (including Colonial Williamsburg with which you may be familiar). We are therefore enclosing also two pages which describe an open-air, museum park in the Netherlands. Even though different, our tolerance park will share various fundamental aspects with such a historical park

Doubtless, you may agree that New York is seen by the rest of the nation as the most tolerant place in the United States. That trait is not always viewed positively. It was the reason that President Bush provided the conditions that will make the tolerance park possible but left the decision for the specific tolerance park—Historic New Amsterdam—up to the State and City. You may also agree that New York’s unique 1624 patrimony of religious, ethnic and racial tolerance is often referred to with the derisive term of “melting pot”. The proposed museum park-to-tolerance will therefore intellectualize the State’s cultural history of diversity and inclusiveness by focusing on the State’s inspiring theme of tolerance as an example to the nation—if not the world. Would there be a better omnipresent image of New York than that?The meaning of this “somewhat intellectual” active virtue can best be found by searching the NY Times under the heading “tolerance”, “toleration” or “intolerance” thus resulting in hundreds of illuminating entries. Yet, there is little actual popular awareness of tolerance as a precursor to and an essential ingredient of individual liberty—which is a static notion. The enduring educational value of tolerance in a pluralistic society is an indispensable element of its civil well-being. Both the active and passive notion—tolerance and liberty—are mutually dependent.Prior to the Republican Convention, Doubleday will publish a book on New York’s 17th-century heritage addressing its thematic patrimony. The book’s title is “The Island at the Center of the World” and is written by Russell Shorto. We hope that you (and all New York politicians) will read it.We also hope that the proposed tolerance park has your active interest and support.Sincerely,Joep de Koning

For some web postings see: http://www.gothamcenter.org/discussions/displaythreads.cfm?ForumID=49        Fdn Hist New Amsterdam

LEGISLATIVE ACTION  •   posted 2/5/04 4:40:PMHistoric New Amsterdam*Living Museum-to-Tolerance on Governors IslandA historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century NY, NJ and CTA place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural and material culture

139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452

February 2, 2004The Hon. Sheldon Silver                Speaker, NY State Assembly        Capitol 349        Albany, NY 12224The Hon. Senator Joseph L. BrunoMajority LeaderNew York State Senate909 LOBAlbany, NY 12247The Hon. George E. PatakiGovernor, New York StateState CapitolAlbany, N.Y. 12224        Dear Assembly Speaker Silver, Senate Majority Leader Bruno and Governor Pataki,Exactly one year ago, federal jurisdiction over Governors Island was transferred to New York. That action enabled the State Legislature to address, unimpeded, our previous requests for a unibill to reserve land on Governors Island for the proposed not-for-profit Tolerance Park project. Such legislative authorization would realize Historic New Amsterdam and would also mean the founding of the National Heritage Triangle* in New York harbor (see letter on the reverse).Four years ago, we also stated that “sufficient private funding is available for this project” and delivered specific private funding sources ($100mm min.) in the hope that these would help induce the Governor, the Mayor and the Legislature to commence the political dialogue necessary to mandate Historic New Amsterdam as a self-sustaining Tolerance Park development in the plans for Governors Island.The Tolerance Park project will use mostly private and some existing public funding sources whereas ongoing content, featuring inspirational exhibits on racial, ethnic and religious tolerance issues, will only be privately sponsored. Hence, neither then nor now is there any reason to postpone legislative action that would mandate Historic New Amsterdam.“Fiscal constriction in Albany” cannot be given as the rationale for any further delay in your decision as developing the park is not related to a specific, annual State or City budget but is spread over a number of years. Moreover, we have proven that private funding sources will be available so that there will be no, or at most a miniscule, impact on future State and City budgets.As you know, Legislative Resolutions no. 5476 and 2708 form the legal bases for not viewing the island any longer as a piece of real estate to be divvied up for the benefit of just local interest parties.Not acknowledging the island’s historic importance would be to advocate commercial development of the STATE’s most consequential landmark – one that could become the NATION’s beacon of tolerance.

We would appreciate having your advice or response in this matter.        Sincerely,        Joep de Koningcc:        The Hon. Randy Daniels, Chairman, GIPEC        * The Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam is a public, not-for-profit, 501 (C) (3) organization that seeks to establish a National Heritage Triangle in New York harbor. The Triangle would represent America’s three fundamental values of tolerance, freedom and welcome as embodied by Governors Island, Liberty Island and Ellis Island, respectively. The notion of tolerance will be symbolized by a 50-acre, not-for-profit, Historic New Amsterdam park as a museum park-to-tolerance. Tolerance was planted as a legal-political condition on American shore by New York’s first official settlers who disembarked on Governors Island in 1624 — the birth date of, amongst other, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It was America’s earliest pluralistic community — an enlightened culture of inclusion and diversity — unprecedented at the time. It constitutes the basis of New York’s cultural history and derives from the one non-English society that founded a colony among the original thirteen. Freedom has no meaning in an intolerant society. Tolerance, therefore, precedes liberty. It is New York’s unique contribution to the nation and requires one’s respect and considerateness as an implicit gift to another.

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UNIBILL SPONSORSHIP  •   posted 2/6/04 10:10:AMFoundation for HISTORIC NEW AMSTERDAMA historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century New York StateA place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural and material culture139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 308-1565Ms. Judy RapfogelChief of StaffOffice of Speaker Sheldon Silver                New York State Assembly270 Broadway, Suite 1807New York, NY 10007April 30, 2001Re: National Heritage TriangleHistoric New Amsterdam on Governors IslandDear Ms. Rapfogel,Thank you for checking in late Friday afternoon and letting me know of your great interest in the concept proposal for Historic New Amsterdam on Governors Island as part of a National Heritage Triangle. I was glad to get such positive feedback from your office.Your statement, though, that the Speaker is unable to help advance Historic New Amsterdam, now, because

the island still belongs to the United States, is incorrect. To the contrary, if the island were to belong to New York, Speaker Silver’s effectiveness in helping advance the proposed open-air museum-to-tolerance may be infinitely smaller, if not non-existent.In fact, if the island goes to New York through auction after September 2001, the not-for-profit Historic New Amsterdam will be politically unfeasible and financially impossible. Historic New Amsterdam will definitely not happen. Its companion message of import to the world (similar to the adjacent messages of “liberty” and “welcome”), as rooted in New York’s beginnings, will be lost forever. Historic New Amsterdam’s intrinsically global message is compatible with the Speaker being a nationally recognized champion in protecting religious freedom.We have therefore been seeking the Speaker’s interest and support over the last few years and have specifically appealed to him earlier this year to sponsor a bill that, if approved by the Assembly and the Senate, commits New York to Historic New Amsterdam, provided this commitment enables New York to receive the island for one dollar prior to public auction, currently scheduled by law, after September 2001. There is therefore no more time to lose.If the Speaker were to be equally excited as you about Historic New Amsterdam but, for various reasons, would prefer to delegate sponsorship of the bill to another representative, you should know that Assembly member John J. McEneny is pleased to stand by and to introduce the bill on his behalf.Please let me know the outcome of your deliberations with the Speaker at your earliest convenience. As always, I am available for further discussions at the Speaker’s convenience and will be in Albany on Friday, May 4 to help draft a bill if so required.Again, thank you for your interest and enthusiasm.Sincerely,Joep de Koningcc: The Hon. Speaker Sheldon Silver, Rep. John J. McEneny, Mr. Ernest Amabile, Principal Legislative Coordinator

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THE NATIONAL INTEREST  •   posted 2/9/04 1:08:PMFoundation for HISTORIC NEW AMSTERDAMA historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century New York StateA place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural and material culture139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452Education and History CommitteeDr. David W. Voorhees        Dr. Oliver RinkDr. Patricia BonomiDr. Leo HershkowitzDr. Firth Fabend

Dr. Joyce D. Goodfriend        Senator John A. DeFrancisco        Chairman Senate Committee on Tourism, Recreation and Sports Development 903 LOBAlbany, NY 12247         Re: National Heritage TriangleHistoric New Amsterdam on Governors IslandLiving Museum-to-ToleranceMay 4, 2001Dear Chairman DeFrancisco,As you know, we have worked for the last few years on advancing a not-for-profit Historic New Amsterdam park (“HNA”) on Governors Island to as broad a political spectrum as possible. We have undertaken these efforts because the envisaged HNA is in the national interest and therefore politically supportable by the three relevant political jurisdictions; the United States (the U.S. President and the U.S. Congress), New York State (the NY State Governor and the NY State Senate and Assembly) and New York City (the NY City Mayor and the City Council).From the point of view of the NY Senate Committee on Tourism, the economic benefits of HNA are twofold:(1)         NY City tourism associated with tying together Governors Island, Liberty Island and Ellis Island in a National Heritage Triangle (representing Tolerance, Liberty and Welcome, respectively); and(2)         NY State tourism associated with [re]connecting Albany (Fort Orange) and Manhattan (HNA) by way of maritime-based historical tourism on the Hudson River similar to the way Albany and Manhattan were interdependent and economically connected at the founding and development of seventeenth-century New York.HNA enables diverse political jurisdictions to rally behind a common theme of meaning and historical substance. As such, HNA facilitates the island’s transfer to New York for the symbolic sum of one dollar to the benefit of all Americans.For that reason we have been [and still are] seeking the interest and support of NY State’s Governor and NY City’s Mayor, in particular as HNA is politically feasible and financially possible upon a definitive pledge by New York during the current legislative session by way of a unibill to be introduced in NY’s Senate and Assembly.Such a New York commitment entails that the underlying land for HNA’s construction will be available on the basis of a long-term lease for a symbolic sum, provided New York has received the island from the United States for a symbolic sum. Current law dictates that after September 2001, the island can only be transferred at market value as determined by auction.The unibill is to serve as backing for a U.S. Congressional bill that assures the United States that, by forfeiting the market price for the island, HNA is of national importance, benefiting all Americans for its historical, educational and cultural values. The Congressional bill needs to be introduced between May and the end of

this summer. Indications are that the members of the NY Senate/Assembly and the U.S. Congress will be very supportive. Yet, the unibill and Congressional bill can only be introduced if they have sponsors (e.g., Bruno/Goodman/DeFrancisco, Silver/McEneny/Morelle, Schumer/Clinton).Being non-affiliated and performing a public service, the Foundation for HNA is a non-political entity. Excluded from the previous Governors Island Task Forces and the Governors Island Advisory Council, and unable in having any dialogue therewith, the foundation can only present the efficacy of its arm’s length concept proposal to the politicians. Acceptance or execution of HNA, therefore, is only possible when the diverse political jurisdictions are willing to ACT IN THEIR SEVERAL, JOINT AND SHARED long-term interests.Your Committee’s views on the tourism aspects of HNA could greatly help energize the debate for a Historic New Amsterdam park on Governors Island and could help generate the required sponsorship in the various legislatures enabling New York to receive the island prior to October 2001.Having your advice or comments on the above would be greatly appreciated.                Sincerely,

                Joep de Koningcc: NY Senate, Committee on Tourism, Recreation and Sports DevelopmentNY Assembly, Committee on Tourism, Arts and Sports DevelopmentGovernor George E. Pataki, Mr. Brad Race, Ms. Tara SnowSenators Joseph L. Bruno and Roy M. GoodmanSpeaker Sheldon Silver, Representative John J. McEnenyMayor Rudolph Giuliani, City Council Speaker Peter F. ValloneSenators Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham ClintonRep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Rep. Benjamin A. Gilmanbcc: The White House: President George W. Bush, Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card, Jr., Counselor to the President Karen P. Hughes, Senior Adviser Karl Rove, Presidential Asst. Domestic Policy Margaret La MontagneGeneral Services Administration: Acting Administrator Thurman M. Davis, Sr., Chief of Staff Daniel Levinson, Commissioner Robert Peck, Regional Administrator Thomas J. Ryan, Assistant to the Director John N. MarcicUnited States Department of the Interior: Secretary of the Interior Gale A. Norton, Northeast Regional Director Marie RustU.S. Dept. of Transportation, U.S. Coast Guard: Vice Admiral, Acting Commandant T.H. Collins

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FISCAL IMPACT  •   posted 2/24/04 10:59:AMNATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE*Historic New Amsterdam Living Museum-to-Tolerance on Governors IslandA historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century New York StateA place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural and material culture139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.

Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452Dr. David W. Voorhees        Dr. Oliver Rink, Author        Dr. Patricia Bonomi        Dr. Leo Hershkowitz        Dr. Firth Fabend        Dr. Joyce D. GoodfriendJune 9, 2003The Hon. Senator, Byron W. BrownCommittee on Tourism        615 Legislative Office BuildingAlbany, NY 12247RE: AMERICA’S ULTIMATE VIRTUEDear Senator Brown,We are grateful for your May 7 letter of support showing your interest in the museum park-to-tolerance Historic New Amsterdam on Governors Island. Its construction would compose the National Heritage Triangle of America’s fundamental values thus creating America’s omnipresent image in New York harbor.We have noted your concern about “the full fiscal impact” of the project and hope that that concern will not sway you in using your greatly needed initiative and political courage to help make the meaningful park become reality. Would you and/or the Committee on Tourism as yet consider sponsoring and introducing a [uni]bill as previously requested on May 4, 2001 (see enclosed)?What was, for example, the “full fiscal impact” of reserving 835 acres of land for New York City’s Central Park which was only possible with the legal backing of the State Legislature?   Wouldn’t the 50 acres for the Museum Park-to-Tolerance also need to be reserved and approved by the State Legislature for it to become reality? What was the fiscal impact of the “not-for-profit” United Nations (made possible by a gift of land by the Rockefellers) or Lincoln Center (founded by John D. Rockefellers, 3rd) or the Statue of Liberty (made possible by France)? Can we assume that the long-term fiscal [or cultural] impact of these creations has been positive? And what has been the fiscal impact from political inertia on over 30 abandoned buildings on Ellis Island, now rotting away, in spite of serious interest from “commercial” developers for decades?The State and City have already benefited greatly thanks to a legal loophole which, as we had pointed out, enabled New York State to receive the Island-of-its-Birth for one dollar past the legal deadline of September 2001. Thanks to the Island’s education dedication and the $1 transfer, we are now in a position to build the not-for-profit tolerance park for the common good in a simplified political environment, provided the State Legislature reserves the 50 acres upon approval of the concept proposal.There is no longer any need to politically deflect or ignore our proposal. Its success or failure now depends on the Legislature’s initiative and courage and on riding the momentum we have created. We realize that the process is not for the politically meek or fearful. Could the Tourism Committee as yet be interested in sponsoring a bill?Sincerely,Joep de Koning

cc: The Hon. Senator George Maziarz, Chairman and Members of the Committee on Tourism                

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DISTINCTIVE LEGACY  •   posted 2/24/04 11:15:AMNATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE*Historic New AmsterdamLiving Museum-to-Tolerance on Governors IslandA historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century NY, NJ and CTA place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural and material culture139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452The Hon. Betsy Gotbaum                Public Advocate for the City of New York 1 Centre StreetNew York, NY 10007February 20, 2004

AMERICA’S ULTIMATE VIRTUEDear Betsy,Your potential interest in New York’s distinctive legacy may help transform Governors Island (the legally recognized 1624 birthplace of New York State and origin of American toleration) into America’s primary virtue of tolerance by way of a 50-acre living museum-to-tolerance — Historic New Amsterdam. The tolerance park would be an element in an iconographic triad* of three islands in New York Harbor — each symbolizing a fundamental American value*.The upcoming book “The Island at the Center of the World” by Russell Shorto, to be published in mid-March, will throw some further light on this New York patrimony.Like Central Park, New York politicians have to set aside 50 acres on Governors Island for the not-for-profit living museum which is to be leased for one dollar per year for 99 years. Your interest in doing so would help advance the Historic New Amsterdam museum park which, obviously, is not meant to compete with local commercial real estate interests. The park is going to be built over time by many passionate sponsors interested in, amongst other, religious, ethnic and racial tolerance. Its construction is going to be a collaborative artistic effort like a Plimoth Plantation, Colonial Williamsburg, Mystic Seaport or Sturbridge Village.However, Historic New Amsterdam will carry the meaningful message of tolerance - the lifeblood of American liberty and fundamental to the survival of western civilization.I would be delighted to discuss this further with you if you have an interest in believing that you could make a difference in this. With best wishes.Sincerely,Joep de Koning

Batavier1@aol.com* The Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam is a public, not-for-profit, 501 (C) (3) organization that seeks to establish a National Heritage Triangle in New York harbor. The Triangle would represent America’s three fundamental values of tolerance, freedom and welcome as embodied by Governors Island, Liberty Island and Ellis Island, respectively. The notion of tolerance will be symbolized by a 50-acre, not-for-profit, Historic New Amsterdam park as a museum park-to-tolerance. Tolerance was planted as a legal-political condition on American shore by New York’s first official settlers who disembarked on Governors Island in 1624 — the birth date of, amongst other, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It was America’s earliest pluralistic community — an enlightened culture of inclusion and diversity — unprecedented at the time. It constitutes the basis of New York’s cultural history and derives from the one non-English society that founded a colony among the original thirteen. Freedom has no meaning in an intolerant society. Tolerance, therefore, precedes liberty. It is New York’s unique, historic contribution to the nation and requires one’s considerateness and respect as an implicit gift to another.

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PRICELESS NATIONAL SYMBOL  •   posted 3/2/04 2:02:PMFoundation* for HISTORIC NEW AMSTERDAMA historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century New York StateA place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural and material culture139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452Education and History CommitteeDr. David W. VoorheesDr. Oliver Rink, AuthorDr. Patricia BonomiDr. Leo HershkowitzDr. Firth FabendDr. Joyce D. GoodfriendMarch 26, 2002        The Hon. Stephen A. PerryAdministrator of General ServicesGeneral Services Administration1800 F. Street, N.W., Room 6137Washington, DC 20405-0002NATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE*Historic New Amsterdam on Governors IslandLiving Museum-to-ToleranceDear Administrator Perry,

With regard to the disposal of Governors Island as per the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (the Act), the island is to be sold at “fair market” and according to the subsequent F2001 budget was valued at $300 million - presumably per some definition.Does the 1997 Act define the formula that calculates the $300 million valuation in the F2001 budget definitively? Then, if such a formula, usually comprising many variables, were ill-defined or not defined, could the 2001 “fair market” value be different and not bear any relationship to the now dated $300 million valuation? Did the United States, for example, make a comparable valuation of the adjoining Liberty Island? Would such possible omission(s) open the door for requiring a redefinition and/or recalculation of “fair market” value?For instance, what is the “fair market” value of a 125 year old, 560,000 pound, copper-clad steel structure? On the lower end of the scale, an accountant would likely ascribe zero value to Lady Liberty’s fully written down book value while allowing some value for the underlying land and the capitalization of recent restoration expenses. On the higher end of the scale, LIBERTY ISLAND IS WORTH BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO THE UNITED STATES AS THE OMNIPRESENT SYMBOL OF AMERICA AND ITS OMNIPOTENT IMAGE OF LIBERTY THE WORLD OVER. Therefore, Liberty Island’s “fair market” value comprises (1) very low book value PLUS (2) extremely high, intangible value - in other words, its fair market value is priceless.HISTORIC NEW AMSTERDAM ON GOVERNORS ISLAND AS THE PERSONIFICATION OF AMERICAN TOLERANCE IS SIMILARLY PRICELESS. When connected to the adjoining symbols on Liberty and Ellis islands they would COMPOSE OUR PROPOSED NATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE* THE SUM OF WHICH WILL BE IMMEASURABLY LARGER THAN ITS COMPONENT PARTS.The F2001 Federal budget likely valued Governors Island as a physical asset only. In view of this asset’s currently desolate condition and its wanting economic use, it could be argued that the cost of maintaining the island and its substantial physical stock would warrant a negative valuation or, at most, a symbolic valuation of one dollar.However, the United States must realize that it is THE OWNER OF BOTH (1) A PHYSICAL ASSET PLUS (2) A CURRENTLY OBFUSCATED, INTANGIBLE ASSET THAT WAS CREATED BY A MOMENTOUS, HISTORIC EVENT THAT TOOK PLACE IN 1624 - the planting of the legal-political condition of tolerance on the North American continent and the birth of the states in the region that stretched from Cape Cod to the Delaware Bay. National recognition of this event would enable the United States to infuse the island with tremendous intangible value. Like Liberty Island, whereon stands Lady Liberty as the symbol of ourselves as part of our national iconography, Governors Island can become an equally valuable symbol to the nation.As Governors Island’s owner, the United States has a right [and perhaps a duty] to recapture its significant history on behalf of its citizens. By dedicating part of Governors Island for Historic New Amsterdam it would confer national significance onto the island. As stated in our August 13, 2001, letter to you; “the long term tangible and intangible value of Governors Island to the United States lies in its end-use or added-value - not in the receipt of current [tangible] dollars”.The Act’s “right-of-first-offer” to the City and State and “fair-market-requirement” are inherently contradictory. Delegating the re-utilization decision of Governors Island and NEGATING ITS RESPONSIBILITY AS OWNER MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE UNITED STATES TO RECEIVE FAIR VALUE FOR THE ISLAND. IT EXPRESSLY DEVALUES THE ISLAND FOR ALL AMERICANS AND DENIES THEM AMERICA’S SEVENTEENTH CENTURY HERITAGE.

The enclosed articles underscore that without the explicit wishes of the United States neither the City nor the State will likely be able to add intangible value to the historic island or create something in the national interest. More importantly, donating the island to New York (not the Foundation) on the condition of prior State legislative approval of Historic New Amsterdam will create the highest possible “fair market” valuation of the island for the United States on behalf of ALL its citizens.If the Act’s “fair market” requirement, thus defined, is not an obstacle to accept Historic New Amsterdam, may I count on your proactive support to build this new symbol of tolerance in New York harbor?Sincerely,Joep de Koning(Batavier1@aol.com)cc: Mr. Norman Mineta, Secretary of TransportationMr. John B. Ashcroft, Attorney General, Mr. Larry D. Thompson, Deputy Attorney GeneralMr. Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., Director of OMB, Mr. Sean O’Keefe, Deputy Director of OMBMs. Gale A. Norton, Secretary of the Interior, Mr. J. Steven Griles, Deputy Secretary of the InteriorMs. Frances P. Mainella, Director National Park ServiceMr. Thurman M. Davis, Sr., Deputy AdministratorMr. William B. Early, Jr., Chief Financial OfficerMr. Brian A. Jackson, Chief of StaffMs. Toni Lewis Hazlewood, Acting Deputy Chief of StaffMr. Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector GeneralMr. Joel Gallay, Deputy Inspector GeneralMr. F. Joseph Moravec, Commissioner GSA Public Buildings ServiceMr. Brian Polly, Assistant Commissioner GSA Public Buildings ServiceMr. Lea J. Uhre, Chief of Staff, GSA Public Buildings ServiceMr. Paul Chistolini, Deputy Commissioner, GSA Public Buildings ServiceMr. G. Martin Wagner, Associate Administrator, GSA Office of Governmental PolicyMr. M.J. Jameson, Associate Administrator, GSA Office of CommunicationsMr. Shawn McBurney, Associate Administrator, GSA Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental AffairsMr. Steve Ruggiero, Acting Regional Administrator, NYMr. John Marcic, Project Manager, GSA, NY* The Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam is a public, not-for-profit, 501 (C) (3) organization that seeks to establish a National Heritage Triangle in New York harbor. The Triangle would represent America’s three fundamental values of tolerance, freedom and welcome as embodied by Governors Island, Liberty Island and Ellis Island, respectively. The notion of tolerance will be symbolized by a 50-acre, not-for-profit, Historic New Amsterdam park as a museum park-to-tolerance. Tolerance was planted as a legal-political condition on American shore by New York’s first official settlers who disembarked on Governors Island in 1624 — the birth date of, amongst other, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It was America’s earliest pluralistic

community — an enlightened culture of inclusion and diversity — unprecedented at the time. It constitutes the basis of New York’s cultural history and derives from the one non-English society that founded a colony among the original thirteen. Freedom has no meaning in an intolerant society. Tolerance, therefore, precedes liberty. It is New York’s unique contribution to the nation and requires one’s respect and considerateness as an implicit gift to another.

Fdn Hist New Amsterdam

LAW FOR THE GOOD OF THE NATION  •   posted 3/2/04 2:21:PMNATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE*Historic New AmsterdamLiving Museum-to-Tolerance on Governors IslandA historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century New YorkA place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural and material culture139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452Education and History CommitteeDr. David W. VoorheesDr. Oliver Rink, AuthorDr. Patricia BonomiDr. Leo HershkowitzDr. Firth FabendDr. Joyce D. GoodfriendAugust 13, 2001The Hon. Attorney General John B. Ashcroft        Attorney General of the United StatesDepartment of Justice950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Room 4400Washington, DC 20530-0001Dear Mr. Attorney General Ashcroft,In light of the Justice Department’s legal memorandum that the government is obliged to try to sell Governors Island (see attached New York Times article of May 16, 2001), you may have an interest in the enclosed package that summarizes a concept proposal for a Historic New Amsterdam park on Governors Island. The park would function as a living museum and Symbol of Toleration and, together with the adjoining symbols of Freedom and Welcome, would constitute a National Heritage Triangle in New York’s harbor.Our proposal for such a National Heritage Triangle is entirely at arm’s length and has none of the actual or perceived conflict-of-interest ingredients which are implicit [and often explicit] in the traditional mixing of local politics with City [or State] real estate interests (see enclosed articles).In other words, Historic New Amsterdam has been conceived for the long-term good, education and enjoyment of ALL the nation’s people. The federal government’s decision to help create a National Heritage Triangle by embracing Historic New Amsterdam would therefore transcend all other plans based on short-term

considerations involving local politics and local special interests.These latter interests will assure that the United States will be unable to reap optimal dollars from the island’s scheduled auction or potential sale. This has been explained, previously, to Mr. Karl Rove and Interior Secretary Gale Norton. THE LONG-TERM INTANGIBLE VALUE WILL BE FAR LARGER THAN THE ONE-TIME TANGIBLE DOLLARS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HOPES TO RECEIVE FROM THE COMMERCIAL SALE OF GOVERNORS ISLAND.Last year, we had been told by the United States President that the island’s re-utilization decision would be entirely the City’s and the State’s. We presumed that THE PROCESS LEADING TO SUCH AN IMPORTANT DECISION WOULD BE A DEMOCRATIC ONE AND INVOLVE THE NEW YORK SENATE AND ASSEMBLY. Accordingly, we have focused our efforts on seeking the New York State Legislature’s interest, cooperation and support which are crucial in thus securing Historic New Amsterdam for New York and the nation.However, of all members of the New York Legislature there are only three possible sponsors who would need to agree on the United States, New York State and City merits of Historic New Amsterdam. If these three legislators can’t agree or are unwilling, then, even landslide popular support in the New York Senate and Assembly won’t help effectuate a decision on Historic New Amsterdam.Whereas you are charged with upholding the law for the good of the nation, you may deduce, like us, that auctioning or selling Governors Island as surplus commodity real estate is not in the national interest. The long-term tangible and intangible value of Governors Island to the United States lies in its end-use or added-value (i.e., not in the receipt of current dollars).Your understanding of this issue would greatly help in accepting Historic New Amsterdam as a national icon thus forming a National Heritage Triangle comprising Governors Island, Liberty Island and Ellis Island.                Sincerely,                Joep de Koningcc: Deputy Attorney General, Larry D. ThompsonPresident of the United States of America, George W. BushVice President of the United States of America, Dick CheneyWhite House Chief of Staff, Andrew H. Card, Jr.Counselor to the President of the United States, Karen P. HughesAssistant to the President of the United States for Domestic Policy, Margaret La MontagneSenior Adviser to the President of the United States, Karl Rove Secretary of Transportation, Norman MinetaCommandant, U.S. Coast Guard, Admiral James M. Loy Vice Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, Vice Admiral, T.H. CollinsSecretary of State, Colin L. PowellNational Security Adviser, Condoleezza RiceSecretary of the Interior, Gale A. NortonDirector, National Park Service, Frances P. MainellaAdministrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Christine Todd Whitman Director, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President, Mitchell E. Daniels, JrDeputy Director, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President, Sean O’Keefe

General Counsel, Office of Management and Budget, Jay Lefkowitz, EsquireAdministrator of General Services, General Services Administration, Stephen A. PerryDeputy Administrator of General Services, General Services Administration, Thurman M. Davis, Sr.* The Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam is a public, not-for-profit, 501 (C) (3) organization that seeks to establish a National Heritage Triangle in New York harbor. The Triangle would represent America’s three fundamental values of tolerance, freedom and welcome as embodied by Governors Island, Liberty Island and Ellis Island, respectively. The notion of tolerance will be symbolized by a 50-acre, not-for-profit, Historic New Amsterdam park as a museum park-to-tolerance. Tolerance was planted as a legal-political condition on American shore by New York’s first official settlers who disembarked on Governors Island in 1624 — the birth date of, amongst other, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It was America’s earliest pluralistic community — an enlightened culture of inclusion and diversity — unprecedented at the time. It constitutes the basis of New York’s cultural history and derives from the one non-English society that founded a colony among the original thirteen. Freedom has no meaning in an intolerant society. Tolerance, therefore, precedes liberty. It is New York’s unique contribution to the nation and requires one’s respect and considerateness as an implicit gift to another.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

REQUEST FOR ACTIVE SUPPORT  •   posted 3/11/04 10:02:AMMinisterie van Buitenlandse ZakenThe Hague, The NetherlandsThe Honorable George E. PatakiGovernor of the State of New YorkExecutive ChambersState CapitolAlbany, NY 122242 March 2001Dear Mr. Pataki,I should like to inform you that the Netherlands Government welcomes the idea of building a Historic New Amsterdam Park on Governor’s Island.The first settlers from the Netherlands arrived on American soil in 1624. They landed on an island called “Noten Eylandt” in New York harbor. The settlers moved to Manhattan and there established a thriving village called New Amsterdam, which later became New York. Thus the foundations of a longstanding relationship of true friendship between our two nations were laid. A relationship between two countries that share the fundamental values of democracy, tolerance and freedom.Under the leadership of Joep de Koning, the Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam has developed a proposal to reconstruct part of New Amsterdam on Governor’s Island, as Noten Eylandt has been known since 1784. He has informed you and your staff of his plans on several occasions. An outdoor “Historic New Amsterdam” museum would illustrate the important and historic contribution the people of the Netherlands made in the early days of what would later become New York. It would be a unique opportunity to bring to life a fundamental part of American history and culture.I am convinced that the idea of establishing a Historic New Amsterdam Park is a laudable one. I sincerely hope that you will give careful consideration to the idea and lend your active support to its realization.

Yours sincerely,J. J. van AartsenMinister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

PRNewswire/April22/2004 STAKING A CLAIM ON GOVERNORS ISLAND  •   posted 4/23/04 11:06:AM

—NEWS RELEASE—

HISTORIC NEW AMSTERDAM TO STAKE A CLAIM ON GOVERNORS ISLAND

New York, April 22/ 2004/PRNewswire/ -- By remarkable coincidence, 9/11 first figured prominently in the nation's history when Henry Hudson of the Dutch East India Company sailed through the narrows into New York Harbor in 1609. He named Manhattan after the Indian tribe that dwelled on the island. Fort Amsterdam was built there sixteen years later.

The Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam wants New York State to reserve one-third of Governors Island for a living museum-park celebrating New York’s historic seventeenth-century legacy of tolerance as the building block of American pluralism. According to Joep de Koning, President of the Foundation, the State Legislature has recognized the island, originally called Noten Eylant, as the site of the first Dutch settlement in 1624 and the origin of American toleration.

The unique ideals of individual liberty and religious tolerance, the bedrock in which American democracy took hold, were brought to the New World by the early Dutch settlers of Governors Island. It is situated just a stone-throw from Manhattan’s southern tip.

In just sixty years during the 1600s, New Netherland (now part of the states of Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York) with the town of New Amsterdam as its capital, thrived as a melting pot, center of global commerce—even in its day—and bastion of individual rights.

Governors Island is now virtually vacant and ripe for imminent

commercial development. Its future—as either public landmark or private venture— rests in the hands of politicians in Albany.

Says Walter Cronkite: “De Koning’s concept for the conversion of Governors Island provides a moral, philosophic and patriotic base that should considerably augment the argument to keep that invaluable heritage in the public domain”.

Of course, the English took over the province, adding it to their string of colonies, but freedom had by then taken root and it quickly spread to surrounding colonies, eventually blossoming into the independence of a new nation.

Just as 843 acres of the city’s Central Park were set aside by the State Legislature 150 years ago, De Koning seeks legislative commitment of fifty acres on the 172-acre Governors Island as a historic landmark. The not-for-profit Historic New Amsterdam project, slated for private funding, would serve the public as both cultural center and popular destination, opening another rich chapter in the unparalleled history of New York.

The Foundation wishes the landmark island to be viewed as a fundamental American value, equal in national symbolic importance as the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. “Our authentic open-air seventeenth-century village will address issues of interactive religious, racial and ethnic tolerance and house pavilions for museums, education and entertainment. The park will compose a National Heritage Triangle in New York Harbor (tolerance, freedom and welcome) for future generations to understand what it means to be an American”, says De Koning.

The Island at the Center of the World, The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan, the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America, by Russell Shorto, (Doubleday, March 2004), confirms this long overlooked ‘prequel’ to American history that Historic New Amsterdam is to preserve.

If New York State acts soon, Historic New Amsterdam could open

September 11, 2009, honoring those lost in an act of unspeakable intolerance, as well as marking the 400th anniversary of Hudson’s arrival in New York and its enduring legacy of tolerance.

*********

Editor: For further information and digitized engraving of 1674 New Amsterdam contact (212) 737-3216 or HistNewAmsterdam@aol.com Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam, 139 East 79th Street, 15th floor, New York, NY 10021, U.S.A. 

Fndn Hist. New Amsterdam

BROAD CREATIVE OVERVIEW  •   posted 4/23/04 11:11:AM

BROAD CREATIVE OVERVIEW – HISTORIC NEW AMSTERDAM

(New York, April 23, 2004) -- Russell Shorto’s recently released book, “The Island at the Center of the World” (Doubleday, March 2004), has created new interest in New York State’s earliest history. Now, with a potentially informed public, it is timely to refocus on the plan for the creation of Historic New Amsterdam on Governors Island.

As a 50-acre tolerance park—emanating a positive, inspirational message (i.e., not through inference by focusing on the negative)—the living museum would create global awareness of what it takes to function successfully in a pluralistic society. Its thematic purpose is to overcome the forces of hate that religious, racial and ethnic diversity can create under various scenarios.

At this juncture, there is no point in advancing detailed plans unless the State Legislature reserves the space for the Historic New Amsterdam park. Like the creation of the city’s Central Park, the land would need to be set aside by the Legislature before content can be decided upon or a business plan created. Visually, the park may best be imagined, for now, as some variation of Mystic Seaport, Colonial Williamsburg or Plimoth Plantation. Accordingly, the development process won’t lend itself to the usual issuance of standard Requests-

for-Proposals (RFP’s) by city or state development agencies.

Roughly 20% of the structures will be dedicated to semi-permanent, interactive exhibits relating to tolerance issues behind authentic seventeenth-century New Amsterdam facades. These structures and exhibits will be privately sponsored and maintained.For visual sensibility, click and see e.g., http://www.openluchtmuseum.nl/Ipix/Brug/brug3d.htm and http://www.openluchtmuseum.nl/Ipix/Zaan1/zaans3d.htm One section/block of the park will house an uplifting African-American Museum that would give special meaning to the ideals of American liberty. The museum will have a facade of New York's earliest (Dutch-American) architecture (click on "Contact" on http://www.franshalsmuseum.nl/index_en.html .

Historic New Amsterdam will be a self-sustaining canvass for and of profound creativity, yet, will be underwritten commercially. As a result, it will be financially viable while serving as a magnet for its diverse residents/interns like artists/scholars/intellectuals of varying stripes. Feasibility is further assured by the park’s ability to draw vast numbers of tourists to its educational exhibits and to the products and services it will offer from its resident artistic and commercial activities.

Its primary target market will be the existing four million-plus tourists from the ferries already visiting the islands of “Freedom” and “Welcome”. Its secondary target market will be to attract Tri-State residents and other domestic as well as foreign visitors who ordinarily would not be interested in visiting the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island. Those visitors would be attracted to an architecturally unique development in a seventeenth-century historical setting, including formal and botanical gardens. In addition, it would serve as a global, educational center of debates and programming relating to tolerance issues.

As a result of its creation, the Foundation/Park-to-Tolerance will make available housing (behind seventeenth-century facades of New York's earliest architecture).   Shelter will be offered at the lowest

possible rent for those dedicated to artistic/intellectual careers and who will help make the envisaged living museum a success. Thus, Historic New Amsterdam will be an educational, artistic "gated community" designed to function as a world center for promulgating New York State’s unique "historic legacy of tolerance" in an architecturally Netherlandic-American setting. It would provide the visual link between the origin of American tolerance on Governor Island in 1624 and the current state of affairs (regional, national or global realities).

Arts and crafts, using seventeenth-century techniques, as they existed in the guilds, will flourish such as weavers and dyers, embroiderers, paper makers, illuminators, boat builders, sail makers, book binders, glass blowers, pigment producers, beer brewers, saw [wind] mill operators, brick makers, carpenters smiths, bakers, coopers, silver/jewelry forgers, costume designers, instrument makers, musicians, dancers, restorers.

Historic New Amsterdam will evolve over time (not a turnkey project) in stages to its own chronology of walls, streets, slips, canals, buildings, etc. Its construction includes a community effort of people of varied ages, backgrounds and skills and envisages the city's youth to take a significant part of that building process - making the wicker wharfs, cutting the stone, making the bricks and hewing the beams.

We hope this may inspire you to embrace or sponsor the National Heritage Triangle to be comprised of the tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam illustrating New York's historical legacy to the nation.

Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam (212) 737-3216

Fndn Hist. New Amsterdam

LARGE SCALE MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT  •   posted 5/3/04 12:36:PM

HISTORIC NEW AMSTERDAM*Living Museum-to-Tolerance on Governors Island

A historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century

NY, NJ and CT

A place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural and material culture

139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452

The Hon. George D. MaziarzNYS Senate, 805 LOB                 Chair,Committee on TourismAlbany, NY 12247                                        

The Hon. Joseph D. MorelleNYS Assembly, 716 LOBChair, Committee on Tourism        Albany, NY 12248

The Hon. John J. FlanaganNYS Senate, 817 LOBChair, Committee on Ethics        Albany, NY 12247

The Hon. Mark WeprinNYS Assembly, 729 LOBChair, Committee on EthicsAlbany, NY 12248

LIFEBLOOD OF AMERICAN LIBERTY

April 30, 2004

Dear Committee Chairs Maziarz, Morelle, Flanagan and Weprin,

American pluralism as we know it started on Governors Island in 1624 and how we deal with it will be the future of our nation. We were therefore grateful meeting with you on April 27. Your initiative to set aside 30% of the island for the tolerance park via legislative action will be vital to the island being honored as the origin

of American toleration and New York State’s birthplace.

Your sponsorship of a unibill will result in “THE BRANDING OF NEW YORK'S MOST MEANINGFUL PRODUCT”—its historical contribution of tolerance to the nation for the furtherance of liberty-for-all on the place of its birth. This inspirational, positive message will forever distinguish New York from other states.

The museum-park’s purpose will be to foster broad awareness of the importance of the compelling concept of religious, ethnic and racial tolerance as the platform of AMERICAN liberty, if not western civilization. Your efforts will thus help differentiate AMERICAN liberty from liberty monuments the world over (such as in Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Iran). Namely, it is the comprehension of tolerance in a civilized society that unites us as a nation—not the pursuit of one’s religious, ethnic or racial self-interest.

In a recent radio interview, the chairman of GIPEC professed to be at a loss as to what to do with the island and urged the audience to send in ideas. Yet, simultaneously, GIPEC sent out requests for proposals (RFP’s) for experience in “large-scale mixed-use development” while expressly omitting any credible historical reference with regard to the island’s profound historic significance to the state and the nation. This omission—as in ALL “official” correspondence since 1996—leads us to believe that New York officials and urban planners have no intention of crediting the island’s invaluable heritage for the betterment of our future in a plan for the island.

Developers will be perfectly capable of developing the island without the not-for-profit Historic New Amsterdam. Therefore, the tolerance park can only come into existence if imposed upon them by the legislatures as a precondition to gain access to the remaining 100-plus acres for “large-scale mixed-use” development.

You have a rare chance to seize the state’s only branding opportunity on behalf of its citizens and for the benefit and pride of the state’s future generations. If you don’t care, officials and planners certainly won’t care. THE RACE OF TIME BETWEEN LEGISLATORS AND URBAN PLANNERS HAS BEGUN! Please, let us know how you would want to proceed.

Sincerely,

Joep de Koning

cc: Senator S. Saland and Assemblymember S. Sanders, Chairs, Committee on Education        City Councilmembers A. G. Miller, E. S. Moskowitz, J. Sanders, Jr., H. Sears, A.J. Gerson

State Majority Leader J. Bruno, Assembly Speaker S. Silver, Assembly Majority Leader P. Tokasz, Sen. L. Krueger, Rep. A.B. Grannis

Fndn Hist. New Amsterdam

DESTRUCTION OF NATIONAL FUNDAMENTAL SYMBOL  •   posted 5/5/04 10:45:AM

NATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE*Historic New AmsterdamLiving Museum-to-Tolerance on Governors Island

A historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century NY, NJ and CT

A place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural and material culture

139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452

The Hon. Stephen M. SalandChair, Senate Committee on EducationNew York State Senate, 609 LOB Albany, NY 12247

March 23, 2004

LIFEBLOOD OF LIBERTY

Dear Senator Saland,

Across the office of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, in the New York State Archives on the Empire State Plaza, lie 12,000 seventeenth-century pages which document New York’s earliest written history. They have only recently been declared a “NATIONAL TREASURE” by the WHITE HOUSE.

Enclosed is an article on the 1653 municipal charter of New York City (Albany received its charter in 1652) which describes the seventeenth-century relationship between the City and the State. The article proves that the most "authoritative” book on the subject, Gotham, which received a Pulitzer prize, is merely a compilation of second-hand sources including those that were no less than a parody of that valuable period. This, we had

conveyed previously to Professor Wallace in a letter to him of December 18, 2003 (enclosed).

Over the last five years, we have requested the State Legislature’s interest in these historical and educational matters, particularly with regard to the State’s most important landmark—Governors Island. The island was the origin of New York State’s legal political condition including the right of “REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES” and “FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCES IN RELIGION”. These freedoms had been insisted upon by George Clinton, Governor of New York State, to become part of the American constitution in 1791. The island, therefore, is the State’s 1624 birthplace and the natural American symbol of [religious] tolerance.

As long as our communications to the Legislature remain unanswered, the final obliteration of a fundamental national symbol is guaranteed. Your Committee’s sponsorship of legislation that will mandate the proposed tolerance park—Historic New Amsterdam—is an essential component in preserving that historic legacy.

Your declination of our request to discuss this personally with you will result in the elimination of that regional and national cultural heritage. Really, it will be tantamount to the destruction of the giant Buddha statue in Afghanistan by the Taliban in early 2001 (a precursor of worse things to come).

Our only question to you is; WHY?

Sincerely,

Joep de KoningHistNewAmsterdam@aol.com

cc: State Senators, State Committee on Education; State Representatives, State Assembly on Education, Legislative Chairs, Committees on Tourism and Ethics

Ann Buttenwieser Consulting

FIRST NY WINDMILL  •   posted 6/16/04 11:40:AMThanks. Where does the information on the first Dutch settlers that's in the NYS legislation come from??? Also, my understanding of the archeological surveys done for NPS is that they found evidence of a wind-blown sawmill on the island near Nolan Park. Where did you get the windmill info? AB

Fndn Hist New Amsterdam

FIRST NEW NETHERLAND WINDMILL  •   posted 6/16/04 11:56:AMMay 27, 2004Dear Ms. Buttenwieser,All information on the first settlement of New York can be found in archival records. They can be found all over the world but the main trove lies at the New Netherland Project in the State Archives in Albany were Dr. Charly Gehring is Director and Translator. His web-site is http://www.nnp.org One has to do one's own research based on historical facts (e.g., original Dutch text) rather than the so often

noted tendency of historians to perpetuate misleading or erroneous second-hand, often culturally-biased or sometimes plainly invented stories. Nearly everything you read in the media about 60 years of early New York as New Netherland is nonsense. Although only about 55-60% of the 12,000 pages of archival records in Albany have been translated, many old translations need to be revised because of their poor translation by previous translators. Windmills [or watermills] can have various functions and the one that was built on Governors Island (then called "Noten Eylant") was a sawmill (textual and visual proof). The second Director of New Netherland, Willem Verhulst, (there were NEVER any Governors) had been given instructions on January 1625 which clearly indicate that a fort existed on Governors Island on or before 1624 and that in 1625 the island remained settled by the original 1624 settlers to Governors Island (hence the 1624 birthplace of New York State). Namely, the West India Company instructions to Verhulst refer to the "NEW" 1625 settlers to be spread among the New Netherland territory in order to take "physical possession" of the territory. The region had initially been "DISCOVERED" in 1609 by Henry Hudson of the [Dutch] West India Company who named the Indian tribe he found on both sides of the Hudson, Manahata. The area was subsequently "SURVEYED AND CHARTED" over a period of four years (1611-1614) by Adriaen Block who named the territory New Netherland (the 1624 Noten Eylant settlement, an act of “PHYSICAL POSSESSION”, completed the New Netherland claim between the 38th and 42 parallels according to the prevailing Law of Nations). The spreading of the NEW 1625 settlers to “Noten Eylant” implies that [most of] the original 1624 settlers remained on "Noten Eylant" (name changed to Governors Island in 1784). Franchoys Fezard, a windmill maker, was among them (textual proof).From the activities on Manhattan in 1625/26 one must conclude that the building of a Manhattan-based windmill (a gristmill) did not precede the "staking out" or start of construction of "Fort Amsterdam" on Manhattan. The selection of the actual place for erecting Fort Amsterdam was to be made at Verhulst’s prerogative according to these instructions (thus not Peter Minuit’s decision). Furthermore, the January 1625 instructions called for Verhulst to "FIRST" construct a "water or windmill by Franchoys Fezard aided by whatever helpers he needs". Obviously, Fezard chose to erect a windmill [in this case a sawmill] as there were not enough strong rapids/streams to build a watermill on either Noten Eylant or in the vicinity of Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan Eylant.The sawmill that was on Governors Island must therefore have been built in 1625 if it hadn't been started yet in 1624. Governors Island may thus safely be credited as being the place of the first windmill. The foundation of a windmill that was “discovered” in 1998 in Nolan Park may be of the 1624/25 windmill unless there are other records of windmills having been built on the island.These historical facts are in the original Van Rappard documents in California.I hope this has been helpful. Joep de Koning, President, Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam, a Tolerance Park on Governors Island that will compose a National Heritage Triangle of America’s fundamental values.

Fndn Hist New Amsterdam

ICONOGRAPHIC AMERICAN IMAGE  •   posted 6/16/04 12:03:PMMs. Linda NealSuperintendent, Governors Island National Monument

c/o National Park ServiceFederal Hall, 26 Wall StreetNew York, N.Y. 10005June 15, 2004ICONOGRAPHIC AMERICAN IMAGEDear Superintendent Neal,In the face of seven years of multifarious politics among diverse jurisdictions, it has been hard for the Interior Department to accept basic historical facts of momentous American significance and great national meaning.Perhaps, its lack of responsiveness to our efforts to seek a dialogue with various political jurisdictions may be partly attributable to political deficiency in rudimentary historical knowledge or, perhaps, a propensity to use myths instead of historical truths in order to pursue a predetermined process or preset plan.We hope though that, at least, the enclosed e-mail to Ms. Buttenwieser and Legislative Resolutions no 5476 and no 2708 may illuminate a small portion of this presumed historical gap at the Interior Department or National Park Service and stimulate some historical interest or intellectual curiosity among its employees.It may be helpful for you to know that we have been unsuccessful thus far to have 60 years of New York’s earliest written period as New Netherland explicitly acknowledged as important American history by political entities in Washington, Albany and New York City. For example, our efforts to have the Park Service change its website to reflect the historical efficacy and historic meaning of Governors Island to the world have been to no avail (see enclosed letter from Chief Rabbi of Rome, Dr. Riccardo Di Segni, to Secretary of State Colin Powell).Surprisingly, not even once during the last six years has the New Netherland Project at the State Archives in Albany (www.nnp.org) been consulted by any member of any political entity with regard to the tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam which is to compose the envisaged National Heritage Triangle of America’s fundamental values. We are therefore curious as to the underlying motive or real meaning of six years of absolute political silence on the matter.Be that as it may, this summer, you have a rare opportunity to tell thousands of expected island visitors the true historic value of Governors Island and its natural symbolic position in the proposed island triad as the iconographic image of what this country stands for.We hope that you may have the interest and courage to enlighten these visitors.        Sincerely,Joep de Koningcc: The Hon. Gail A. Norton, Secretary of the Interior, Department of the Interior        The Hon. Frances P. Mainella, Director National Park ServiceThe Hon. Marie Rust, Northeast Regional Director, National Park ServiceMs. Yvette DeBow, Marketing Director, GIPEC

Fndn Hist New Amsterdam

LIFEBLOOD OF AMERICAN LIBERTY  •   posted 6/16/04 12:10:PMNATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE*Historic New AmsterdamLiving Museum-to-Tolerance on Governors Island

A historical museum park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century NY, NJ and CTA place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of NY’s and NJ’s earliest architectural and material culture139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452

The Hon. George E. PatakiGovernor, New York StateState CapitolAlbany, N.Y. 12224June 14, 2004LIFEBLOOD OF AMERICAN LIBERTYDear Governor Pataki,We are enclosing some additional information that may be helpful in your decision to support our important efforts to safeguard the bedrock in which American culture and democracy took hold. The explicit conservation of the state’s thematic patrimony of tolerance within a National Heritage Triangle of America’s fundamental values would be for the benefit and pride of the state’s future generations.The proposed Tolerance Park is a living museum to New York’s historic seventeenth-century legacy of tolerance—the building block of American cultural pluralism (i.e., not multi-culturalism).For Historic New Amsterdam to succeed, you, amongst others, would need to embrace pluralism through [religious, ethnic and racial] tolerance as an active notion and understand that broad, enduring awareness of tolerance is indispensable to the well-being and future of modern, civilized democracies.Your comprehension and acceptance of this fundamental American virtue would thus help preserve and promulgate America’s inimitable patrimony of tolerance and liberty. Tolerance has been central to American culture since 1624 upon its planting as a legal-political condition on the place of its origin — Governors Island.We hope that you can decide upon helping make the Tolerance Park Historic New Amsterdam become reality. If you have any questions or comments, please advise.                Sincerely,Joep de KoningHistNewAmsterdam@aol.comcc:         The Hon. Michael BloombergThe Hon. Randy DanielsThe Hon. Joseph BrunoThe Hon. Sheldon Silver

Fndn for Hist. New PUBLIC MEETING, July 29, 2004  •   posted 8/2/04 10:47:AM

Amsterdam The Hon. George W. Bush                President, United States of AmericaThe White House                        Washington, DC 20500                The Hon. George E. Pataki Governor, New York StateState CapitolAlbany, N.Y. 12224                The Hon. Michael R. Bloomberg Mayor of the City of New YorkCity HallNew York, N.Y. 10007July 30, 2004                        LIFEBLOOD-OF-AMERICAN-LIBERTYDear President Bush, Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg,Yesterday, July 29, during a razzle-dazzle GIPEC presentation to the public, NOT ONE mention was made about the reason why Governors Island — as the historic, natural source of American pluralism and origin of American toleration — is the nation’s most important landmark! GIPEC and its consultants presented various options for divvying the island up in well-intended functional uses, none of which included the profoundly meaningful rationale for the tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam.As you now know, the region’s first African-American resided on Governors Island as a factor in 1613. He belonged to the only racial group that was legally discriminated against until 1964, right under the torch of the Statue of Liberty. For that reason, and in order to understand the true meaning of “American” Liberty, an African-American Museum will have a guaranteed place in Historic New Amsterdam.Furthermore, thanks to the planting of the legal-cultural condition of toleration onto the New Netherland territory (then stretching from Cape Cod to the Delaware Bay) by the first settlers to Governors Island in 1624, can we commemorate the 350th anniversary of the Jewish arrival in North America in September (see enclosed article; "Governors Island, Lifeblood of American Liberty"). WITHOUT THAT MOMENTOUS 1624 EVENT ON GOVERNORS ISLAND, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO SUCH REMEMBRANCE THIS YEAR.As true Americans, you must agree that it is the pursuit of the compelling notion of tolerance-as-the-platform-of-American-liberty that unites us as a nation — not the quest of one’s religious, ethnic or racial self-interest [the result of which was observed not too long ago in the Balkans/Middle East, Rwanda and South-Africa, respectively].The creation of this new national monument of tolerance, therefore, would complete the successful foundation of American heterogeneity as symbols in New York harbor and would strengthen the basic principles of pluralism as the best defense against religious, ethnic and racial bigotry in our nation and around the world. Governors Island, as the symbol of America’s ultimate virtue of tolerance, may therefore be even more

“meaningful” than Liberty Island.The underlying precept of our proposed development is similar in stature and grandeur as the Statue of Liberty or the American Immigration Museum on Ellis Island. The project’s significance therefore, ought to transcend the plans in the GIPEC presentation which now supersede your potential endorsement or support.Those plans certainly ignore seven years of full-time effort that went into trying to make the politicians understand the worth of the envisaged National Heritage Triangle of America’s fundamental values, soliciting political support for designating Governors Island as the original and only visually existing symbol of seventeenth-century American toleration, and seeking political approval for the museum-park-to-tolerance Historic New Amsterdam.The symbol-of-tolerance will remind this world of the meaning of tolerance to civil society and will serve as permanent beacon for the furtherance of liberty-for-all on the place of its birth, thus forming the nation’s omnipresent image*.Only you can imbue substance to GIPEC’s plans. Their worth to the NATION, today, is non-existent.Sincerely,Joep de Koningcc:         The Hon. Joseph Bruno, The Hon. Sheldon Silver, The Hon. Randy Daniels* The Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam is a public, not-for-profit, 501 (C) (3) organization that seeks to establish a National Heritage Triangle in New York harbor. The Triangle would represent America’s fundamental values of tolerance, freedom and welcome as embodied by Governors Island, Liberty Island and Ellis Island, respectively. The notion of tolerance will be symbolized by a 50-acre, not-for-profit, Historic New Amsterdam park as a museum park-to-tolerance. Tolerance was planted as a legal-political condition on American shore by New York’s first official settlers who disembarked on Governors Island in 1624 — the birth date of, amongst other, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It was America’s earliest pluralistic community — an enlightened culture of inclusion and diversity — unprecedented at the time. It constitutes the basis of New York’s cultural history and derives from the one non-English society that founded a colony among the original thirteen. Freedom has no meaning in an intolerant society. Tolerance, therefore, precedes liberty. It is New York’s unique contribution to the nation and requires one’s respect and considerateness as an implicit gift to another.

Fndn Hist New Amsterdam

WORTHY OF ENDORSEMENT AND CONSIDERATION?  •   posted 8/4/04 4:19:PMPICTURE OF THE MANUSCRIPT MANATUS MAP FOCUSING ON THE ISLAND TRIAD OF AMERICAN SYMBOLS IN NEW YORK HARBORNOTEN EYLANT (1) IN 1624 AS “TOLERANCE” (NOW GOVERNORS ISLAND);OESTER EYLANT (2) AS “FREEDOM” (NOW LIBERTY ISLAND); ANDOESTER EYLANT (3) AS “WELCOME” (NOW ELLIS ISLAND).(1) The region’s first settlers to Governors Island planted the legal-cultural condition of American toleration on North-American shore in 1624. They were instructed that, by example, they were to “attract the natives and non-believers to God’s word without however persecuting anyone by reason of one’s religion and to leave everyone the freedom of his conscience”. The island is the source of American cultural pluralism. The name was changed from “Nutten Island” to Governors Island in 1784.(2) Upon a grant by Governor Lovelace to Isaack Bedlow in 1670, the island was designated “a priviledged

place where no warrant of attachement or arrest shall be of force or be served” and the name was changed from Oester (Oyster) Eylant to “a new name. That is to say the name of Love[lace] Island”. The name was changed from “Bedloe” Island to Liberty Island in 1956.(3) A Willem Blaeu map of 1635 and an English Headquarters map of 1782 depict the island as Oester/Oyster Island. It was offered for sale to Samuel Ellis in 1785 and thus became Ellis Island. It became the entry point of 12 million immigrants between 1892 and 1954. It now houses the American Immigration Museum.    TO: DISTRIBUTIONGovernors Island, 1624Only Visual Existing Symbol of Seventeenth-Century American Toleration“In America, the only extant historic symbol of tolerance has yet to be officially recognized—Governors Island—the 1624 source of American pluralism and the birthplace of New York State. It could remind the world that the dynamic notion of tolerance as a precursor to liberty-for-all remains an ongoing struggle and that only broad awareness and conscious vigilance will sustain it. When so acknowledged, the [tolerance] island could safeguard America’s lifeblood-of-liberty for future generations on the place of its birth—thus preserving the legacy of New York and the one non- English society that founded a colony among the original thirteen.”Dear Mr. President,        August 4, 2004Please, let us know why the worthy National Heritage Triangle doesn’t receive your endorsement. How come that any dialogue about the tolerance island needs to be avoided and that the proposed museum-park-to-tolerance deserves no consideration or response?        Sincerely,        Joep de KoningDistribution: President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Senate Majority Leader William Frist, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Governor George E. Pataki, NY Secretary of State Randy A. Daniels, NY Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, NY City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, NY City Council Speaker Alan Gifford Miller, National Security Adviser Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage, Secretary of the Interior Gale A. Norton, Attorney General John B. Ashcroft, Education Secretary Dr. Rod Paige, Commerce Secretary Don Evans, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card, Jr., Sr. Presidential Adviser Karl Rove, White House Counsel to the President, Alberto R. Gonzales, Esquire, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett, Presidential Assistant for Domestic Policy Margaret Spellings, GSA Administrator Stephen A. Perry, National Park Service Director Frances P. Mainella, NPS Northeast Regional Director Marie Rust, United States Senator Charles E. Schumer, United States Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton., Bush/Cheney 04, Inc. Chairman Marc Racicot, Finance Chairman Mercer Reynolds III, Deputy Finance Chairman Jack Oliver, NYC Host Committee 2004 Leadership, NYC Deputy Mayors.cc: Lieutenant Governor Mary O. Donohue, State Education Commissioner Richard P. Mills, NYS Parks Commissioner Bernadette Castro, LMDC Chairman John C. Whitehead, LMDC Director Frank G. Zarb, LMDC Counsel Ira M. Millstein, Esquire, Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein, ESDC Chairman Charles A. Gargano, EDC President Andrew M. Alper, GIPEC President James F. Lima, Deputy Secretary of State

Patrice M. Le Melle, NYS Legislative Committees on Education, Tourism and Ethics, Assembly Majority Leader P. Tokasz, Sen. L. Krueger, Rep. A.B. Grannis. Sen. M. Connor

Fndn Hist New Amsterdam

JEWISH ARRIVAL 350 YEARS AGO  •   posted 8/25/04 4:03:PMMrs. Libby Pataki        First Lady, New York State633 Third Avenue, 38th floorNew York, NY 10017July 26, 2004LIFEBLOOD OF AMERICAN LIBERTYDear Mrs. Pataki,Now that the 9/11 Report has been published, the need for important “ideas” may be better understood.In September, it will be the 350th anniversary of the Jewish arrival in North America (see enclosed article “Governors Island, Lifeblood-of-American-Liberty”). Its meaning touches upon issues of religion, free trade, and globalization—issues that were at the forefront 350 years ago, and are equally relevant presently and, most likely, in the future.   Governors Island is the natural, national source of American pluralism and origin of American toleration. Therefore, for the creation of a new national monument, we had focused on something visible, historic and of great relevance to the nation’s future (well before 9/11, see April 24, 2000 letter to President Clinton).Your deeper understanding of what happened may make you realize that we do need the island-of-tolerance in the same way that we need the islands of liberty and immigration (which came about accidentally in the wrong sequence). Your possible endorsement of the envisaged National Heritage Triangle, therefore, could make a difference in helping receive the required regional and local political approval for its realization.

Very few Americans [or historians for that matter] know or understand the global context in which the Jewish arrival took place and its significance to American society and culture—if at all. The article may help you realize that politicians have here a unique opportunity for the nation, if not Western civilization, if only they would be willing to grasp its historic relevance to the development of the country and importance to the future of our pluralist culture.The month in which the Jewish arrival occurred coincides with the month of the 3rd anniversary of the horrific act of [religious] intolerance which attempted to set up one religion against another on a global scale.We hope you will find the article interesting and look forward to your view on the National Heritage Triangle.Sincerely,Joep de KoningHistNewAmsterdam@aol.comcc:Mrs. Lynne Cheney; Office of the Vice President, Ms. Page Austin; Office of Laura Bush

Fndn Hist New Amsterdam

NATIONAL, NOT-FOR-PROFIT  •   posted 8/25/04 4:10:PMMs. Anne HeiligensteinDirector of Projects and Policy

Office of Laura BushThe White House1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NWWashington, D.C. 20500August 11, 2004Dear Ms. Heiligenstein,Thank you for your note of July 23. In response, we must stress that the project is a not-for-profit, self-sustaining 50-acre project, financed by various donors.Moreover, the historical park is rooted in early American history and evokes the nation’s ultimate virtue of tolerance as the active component of “American” liberty. Governors Island’s thematic heritage of tolerance is of NATIONAL significance. The project’s construction is NON-COMMERCIAL.In summary, the island is the natural, national source of American pluralism and origin of American toleration. As such it is the nation’s most consequential landmark carrying the symbolic meaning of tolerance which requires preservation in order to safeguard its relevant message for the 21st-century. Without explicit recognition [by “Preserve America”] of this momentous, historical function, this national cultural legacy will forever be eliminated which is tantamount to the destruction of the giant Buddha statue in Afghanistan by the Taliban in early 2001 (a precursor of worse things to come). The First Lady’s endorsement could help make the island a fundamental national symbol in an island triad in New York harbor.Please, advise First Lady Bush accordingly.Sincerely,Joep de Koningcc: President Bush, Governor Pataki, Mayor BloombergGovernors Island, 1624Only Visual Existing Symbol of Seventeenth-Century American Toleration

“In America, the only extant historic symbol of tolerance has yet to be officially recognized—Governors Island—the 1624 source of American pluralism and the birthplace of New York State. It could remind the world that the dynamic notion of tolerance as a precursor to liberty-for-all remains an ongoing struggle and that only broad awareness and conscious vigilance will sustain it. When acknowledged politically as the nation’s earliest fundamental cultural asset and the defining element of “American” liberty, the [tolerance] island would safeguard America’s lifeblood-of-liberty for future generations on the place of its birth—thus preserving the legacy of New York and the one non-English society that founded a colony among the original thirteen.”        

Fndn Hist New Amsterdam

PRESERVE AMERICA  •   posted 8/25/04 4:19:PMPRESERVE AMERICAExecutive Order 13287 by President George W. Bush on March 3, 2003toProvide Leadership in Preserving America’s Heritage by Actively Advancing the Protection, Enhancement and Contemporary Use of Historic [that is “momentous or meaningful”, not historical] Properties                                      

                                  WELCOME                                                                                TOLERANCE                                  FREEDOM

                                             __________Seven year full-time dedicated focus (1998 through 2004) on; •        Attainment of Sustainable Use and Preservation of a Cultural Asset•        Commitment to the Protection and Interpretation of an American Cultural Heritage Asset•        Integration of a Momentous Asset into Contemporary Community LifeIn order to;•        Achieve a Greater Shared Knowledge about the Nation’s Past•        Strengthen the Tri-State’s Identity and New York’s Pride•        Increase New York’s Participation in Preserving the Country’s Fundamental    Cultural Asset, and Support New York’s Economic Vitality

Fndn Hist New Amsterdam

PROPOSED OpEd New York Times  •   posted 9/9/04 12:35:PMMr. David Shipley                                                                                         August 22 2004OpEd Editor, OpEd Dept.The New York Times229 West 43rd StreetNew York, NY 10036-3959        GOVERNORS ISLAND, LIFEBLOOD-OF-AMERICAN-LIBERTYDear Mr. Shipley,This September, it will be the 350th anniversary of the Jewish arrival in North America. Its meaning touches upon issues of religion, free trade and globalization—issues that were at the forefront 350 years ago, and are equally relevant presently and, most likely, in the future.   These topics are explored in the enclosed OpEd article “Governors Island, Lifeblood-of-American-Liberty” which you may want to consider for publication.Perhaps more importantly, the article points out that Governors Island is the nation’s NATURAL, national source of American pluralism and origin of American toleration. As such it is the country’s most consequential landmark and requires preservation in order to safeguard its historic, symbolic meaning of tolerance for future generations. It could thus become a fundamental national symbol in an island triad in New York harbor.Very few of your readers [or Jewish-Americans or historians for that matter] know or understand the global context in which the Jewish arrival took place and its significance to American society and culture—if at all. The OpEd piece may also help readers realize that politicians may have a unique opportunity for the nation to create a new, quintessential American symbol if they would be willing to understand its historic relevance to the development of the country and importance to the future of our pluralist culture.Without the momentous 1624 event of the first settlers to Governors Island planting the legal-cultural condition of toleration onto North-American shore, there would be no 350th commemoration of the Jewish arrival this month.

I hope you will find the article interesting and look forward to hearing from you.                        Sincerely,Joep de Koningcc: Ms. Kate Phillips, Deputy OpEd Editor

        Governors Island, Lifeblood of American LibertyBy Joep de KoningAugust 22, 2004, New York. This year, 380 years ago, the first settlers from the Dutch Republic arrived on Governors Island in a final act to take possession of the New Netherland territory—originally “discovered” by Henry Hudson in 1609 and “surveyed and charted” by Adriaen Block from 1611 through 1614 on behalf of the States General of the Dutch Republic. It was on Governors Island that these settlers built New York harbor’s first defensive position—a fort—and a windmill—a sawmill.But more importantly, they planted the legal-cultural condition of religious tolerance on the North American Continent thus making the island the original source of American pluralism. Those settlers received specific instructions that “by example” they were to attract the natives and non-believers to God’s word “without however to persecute someone by reason of his religion and to leave everyone the freedom of his conscience”. Those instructions also incorporated the laws and ordinances of the States of Holland whose 1579 founding document stated “that everyone shall be free in religion and that no one shall be persecuted or investigated because of religion”.That legal-cultural tradition of toleration thus became the basis of ethnic diversity in New Netherland—now the Tri-State region—in the same way that the 1579 document was reflective of a religiously and ethnically diverse population in patria. Governors Island is therefore the origin of nascent American toleration and the nation’s earliest fundamental cultural asset.This month, 350 years ago, the first known Jews disembarked on Manhattan Island from the ship “Pear tree” which had sailed from Amsterdam via London. They were Ashkenazim—originally High German and Polish Jews—who had found refuge in that Dutch city following religious and ethnic persecution elsewhere in Europe. Their departure from Amsterdam was related to the conclusion of the first Anglo-Dutch war (1652-1654) which had reduced the city’s economic prospects. These Ashkenazic Jews chose Manhattan as their new destination for a better life and had been issued passports by the [Dutch] West India Company.Shortly after their arrival, a large group of Sephardic Jews—originally Iberian and North African Jews—arrived in Manhattan on the ship St. Catrina from Dutch Brazil via the Caribbean. Their departure from Recife in Dutch Brazil was related to the surrender of Dutch Brazil to the Portuguese in 1654. The Sephardim had played an important role in the West India Company’s focus on Brazil with sugar being its main source of wealth. The profit, then, on one shipload of sugar was larger than 50 shiploads of salt.In the Dutch Republic, the first Sephardic community, Beth Jacob, was founded in 1602 and 40 years later, the first [Sephardic sister] synagogue in the Western Hemisphere was opened in Dutch Brazil at Recife in Pernambuco by Chachem Isaac Aboab da Fonseca, the first Rabbi in the Americas and a member of the Amsterdam rabbinate. Later, in 1675, the grand Portuguese Synagogue was opened in Amsterdam which remained the largest in Europe for nearly 200 years. It was partly built with a community tax (imposta) on

trade volume and share dividends.In New Amsterdam on Manhattan, the unexpected arrival of the sizeable group “Portuguese Israelites” wasn’t favored by the local company director Petrus Stuyvesant who—the Sephardic Jews having no passport and being not of a reformed religion—tried to expel them. However, he was overruled by the West India Company directors who wrote him that “they shall be allowed to sail and to trade in New Netherland and also be allowed to reside and settle there” on the basis of “reason and equity”. In fact, all attempts at local intolerance were overruled by the West India Company directors in patria. It was therefore no accident that the Virginian, William Byrd, commented on his visit to New Amsterdam in 1682 that “they have as many sects of religion there as at Amsterdam”.That right to religious tolerance—then in its elemental legal form—had been transferred by treaty in 1664 onto the community under provisional English rule and ultimately culminated into the First Amendment of the American Constitution in 1791. Yet, intermittently, for more than three centuries and in spite of that Constitutional right since 1791, cultural prejudice and legal intolerance toward minority religions and races would prevail in New York. From the first Jewish arrival, 350 years ago, to the inauguration of Abe Beame in 1974 as first Jewish mayor of New York City lie some profoundly important lessons for humanity.Therefore, in America, the only existing historic symbol of seventeenth-century tolerance has yet to be officially recognized—Governors Island—the 1624 source of American pluralism and the birthplace of New York State. It could remind the world that the dynamic notion of tolerance as a precursor to liberty-for-all remains an ongoing struggle and that only broad awareness and conscious vigilance will sustain it. When acknowledged politically as the nation’s earliest fundamental cultural asset and the defining, active element of “American” liberty, the [tolerance] island would safeguard America’s lifeblood-of-liberty for future generations on the place of its birth—thus preserving the legacy of New York and the one non-English society that founded a colony among the original thirteen.”*****************Joep de Koning is a specialist on New York’s seventeenth-century history and President of the Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam which plans to build a museum-park-to-tolerance on Governors Island. As the symbol of tolerance in New York harbor, the island will compose the National Heritage Triangle of America’s fundamental values—Tolerance, Freedom and Welcome. E-mail: HistNewAmsterdam@aol.com 

Fndn Hist New Amsterdam

9-11-1609 Heritage Rejected; Cultural Legacy Denie  •   posted 9/11/04 2:44:PMSeptember 11, 2004The Hon. George E. Pataki        Governor, New York StateState Capitol, Albany, N.Y. 12224GOVERNORS ISLAND—LIFEBLOOD OF AMERICAN LIBERTYDear Governor Pataki,Today, only FIVE years are left to open the privately financed, not-for-profit tolerance park, Historic New Amsterdam, on September 11, 2009 (the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s discovery).Over the last SEVEN years we have given you and the Legislature copious information enabling the introduction and passage of a bill that would reserve [at least provisionally] 30% of Governors Island for the park’s construction. You and the Legislature only can make that happen through the power and voice of

democracy!Of the 17,084 bills that were introduced in the State Legislature this year, not one related to safeguarding New York’s historic legacy of tolerance on the place of its birth—Governors Island—THE NATION’S EARLIEST FUNDAMENTAL CULTURAL ASSET. Implicitly, the 864 bills which passed both houses this year (of which 271 were signed by you) thus deserved or had your full support or sponsorship.Then, were those 864 bills more worthy and significant than a bill calling for or mandating the preservation of New York’s distinctive heritage? COULD REVEALING THE COUNTRY’S ONLY NATURAL FUNDAMENTAL SYMBOL AS WELL AS BRANDING NEW YORK’S MOST MEANINGFUL PRODUCT BE GOOD FOR NEW YORK AND ITS ECONOMIC VITALITY?As park-to-tolerance, Historic New Amsterdam would do so by emitting New York’s unique historic patrimony for the benefit of future generations. In addition, as symbol of tolerance—exposed in an island triad in New York harbor and as the successful foundation of American heterogeneity—Governors Island would radiate an important human rights message to the world and be inexorably connected to Liberty Island, forever defining liberty-for-all—“AMERICAN” liberty.We don’t know why our many dozens of appeals to you for embracing the National Heritage Triangle remain unanswered—why we are left to guess the reasons for your silence with respect to New York’s historic message on the place of its origin and of profound 21st-century relevance.The project needs your personal, caring attention in the interest and for the greater good of the State and the nation. Without your shared interest in this vision and your prompt, positive response to consider its creation, the project is doomed—FOREVER.**                 ARE YOU PREPARED TO INTRODUCE OR SUPPORT THE REQUISITE LEGISLATION?Sincerely,Joep de Koningcc:         Mayor M. Bloomberg, Each and every State Legislator                Encl.         March 3, 2003, Executive Order 13287 by President George W. Bush        Article: Governors Island, Lifeblood-of-American-Liberty: Toleration + Free Trade = Cultural Pluralism (?)        Various recent pertinent correspondence; PLEASE EXAMINE!                **        An implicit SHORT-TERM gain for the varied political-commercial interests at the explicit expense of New York’s future generations and New York’s LONG-TERM economic vitality as well as an express denial of New York’s legacy to “AMERICAN” liberty and diminution of the nation's omnipresent image in New York harbor. See July 30, 2004 letter to Bush/Pataki/Bloomberg and April 30, 2004 letter to Committees on Tourism, Education and Ethics.

Fndn Hist New Amsterdam

CONDONING DESTRUCTION  •   posted 9/15/04 10:42:AMSeptember 14, 2004Mr. John M. Fowler                        Executive DirectorAdvisory Council on Historic Preservation1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 809Washington, DC 20004

GOVERNORS ISLANDSYMBOL-OF-TOLERANCE - LIFEBLOOD-OF-AMERICAN-LIBERTYDear Mr. Fowler,Thank you so much for your courtesy and courage to respond to our request for Preserve America's endorsement. Indeed, you are right that, now, the DECISION for the National Heritage Triangle lies with the state and the city of New York - but only since February 1, 2003. But does that release the White House from ENCOURAGING the preservation of "our priceless cultural and national heritage" through passive endorsement?Prior to February 2003, the federal government, as owner, had sole jurisdiction over the island as federal property. Furthermore, after September 2001, it was obligated by Congressional law to auction the island off to the highest bidder.That ominous realization and worrisome deadline, together with the empirical realities of local and regional politics - perpetually intertwined with varied local and regional special [commercial] interests - made it imperative that the actual DECISION for the National Heritage Triangle, to be composed by the tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam, was to be made by the White House.For that reason, we had broadly directed our efforts on building consensus among the three stakeholders (federal, state and city) with particular focus on the primary decision maker - the White House - in conjunction with various federal agencies. Only the core decision makers in Washington would have been capable of making a clear arm's-length determination in the interest of ALL citizens thus justifying the surrender of the legally mandated "market price" for the island.As a not-for-profit education and history project, we had sought to preserve jurisdictional transfer at the originally promised nominal sum of one dollar and pointed out that - based on historical legal precedent going back to 1785 - dedicating the island to education would accomplish that objective. We succeeded in doing so, in spite of federal (and state/city) interlocutors overwhelmingly choosing the safety and security of silence in our many passionate appeals to them (read Six Year Summary).It is common knowledge that New York's legislature is generally considered the nation's most dysfunctional one (see www.NYTimes.com/Albany or see enclosed Henry Stern articles). By extension, integrity and ethical choice are not its strongest points. That, we had explicitly pointed out many times (see selected letters to Messrs. John Ashcroft, Karl Rove, Stephen Perry, Ms. Gale Norton).Now the White House and federal government have relinquished their direct involvement and responsibilities vis-a-vis the preservation of one of its most momentous, fundamental national symbols (as of February 1, 2003), we have asked the White House for its indirect involvement by way of only an endorsement in the same way that President Ulysses Grant had endorsed the Statue of Liberty.A White House or a Preserve America ENDORSEMENT, therefore, could help advance the political recognition of this historic national symbol of America's ultimate virtue by the New York State Legislature or help overcome, perhaps, the obstacles of fear and patronage as evident in the State Legislature's structure and process (see letter to Senator Hugh Farley and Henry Stern's articles).We don't know why Preserve America would be unable to make a passive endorsement of our attempts at preserving America's meaningful heritage. We are only asking Preserve America to act within the interest of Executive Order 13287 which is to "provide LEADERSHIP in preserving America's heritage by ACTIVELY

advancing the protection, enhancement and contemporary use of a momentous, meaningful property".We do realize that this national historic property is no longer express federal property after the White House ceded the nation's only natural fundamental symbol - a national cultural asset - to New York State just one month prior to the March 3, 2003 date of the Executive Order. More surprisingly, in spite of our copious efforts, jurisdictional transfer was made without any condition to preserve the island's intrinsic symbolism for the nation. Would this ethical lapse or indifference absolve the White House and the various federal agencies from any further involvement or support? Would not having Preserve America's passive endorsement just perpetuate that past lack of concern or negligence?Therefore, not receiving your official "encouragement and support" would be tantamount to condoning rejection of "our priceless cultural and natural heritage", dismissal of the meaning of America's 9-11-1609 legacy (Henry Hudson's discovery as the basis of a republican, non-kingly, legal-cultural tradition), denial of that culture's companion inheritance of tolerance as the source of American pluralism, ruination of a fundamental national symbol, obliteration of a human rights icon of immense visibility to the world and the damnation of a project of momentous historical meaning on the very place of its birth with an inherent message of enormous 21st century relevance.If Preserve America would just stand by and allow this to happen, it would be no different than closing the eyes to the destruction of Jamestown Settlement for the benefit of a local highway project or a Congressional decision to eliminate the day of Thanksgiving as a national holiday.We hope that you can reconsider your determination based on the facts presented herein and, as yet, can provide "LEADERSHIP" to "PASSIVELY" advance the preservation of America's heritage through endorsement.                        Sincerely,                        Joep de Koningcc:         President George W. Bush, Office of the First Lady, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, Secretary of Commerce Don Evans, HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, ACHP Chairman John L. Nau, III, ACHP Vice Chairman Bernadette Castro,

NEWSDAY, Sept. 29, 2004

IDEAL GEOGRAPHY  •   posted 9/30/04 4:12:PMIDEAL GEOGRAPHYLet's honor America's tradition of tolerance

BY JOEP DE KONINGSeptember 29, 2004The beginning of Jewish history in America began 350 years ago, when two ships arrived in New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island within a few weeks of each other - providing an important history lesson in the origins of our country's long and difficult tradition of tolerance.The first Jews disembarked on Aug. 22, 1654, from the Peartree, which had sailed from Amsterdam via London. They were Ashkenazim - originally High German and Polish Jews - who had found refuge in Amsterdam following religious and ethnic persecution elsewhere in Europe. Their departure from Amsterdam was due to the end of the first Anglo-Dutch war (1652-1654), which had reduced Holland's economic

prospects. Choosing Manhattan as their destination for a better life, those Ashkenazic Jews had traveled on passports issued by the Dutch West India Company. Among them was Asser Levy, the first known Jew to be buried in New Amsterdam (now New York City).Shortly after their arrival, in September, a large group of Sephardic Jews - originally Iberian and North African Jews - arrived in Manhattan on the Dutch ship St. Catrina from Dutch Brazil. They left Recife because Dutch Brazil had surrendered to the less tolerant Portuguese in 1654. The Sephardim had played an important role in the West India Company's sugar trade with Brazil. Back then, the profit from one shipload of sugar was more than that from 50 shiploads of salt.The arrival of those first Jewish groups in North America had its roots in the enlightened culture and the legal-political condition of the Dutch Republic. There, the first Sephardic community, Beth Jacob, was founded in 1602. Later, in 1675, the grand Portuguese Synagogue was opened in Amsterdam, which remained the largest in Europe for nearly 200 years.In New Amsterdam, the unexpected arrival of this sizeable group of "Portuguese Israelites" wasn't viewed favorably by the local company director Petrus (aka Peter) Stuyvesant, because they had no passport and were not of a reformed religion. He also feared they would become competition. He tried to expel them, but he was overruled by the West India Company directors who wrote him that "they shall be allowed to sail and to trade in New Netherland and also be allowed to reside and settle there" on the basis of "reason and equity." In fact, all Stuyvesant's attempts at religious intolerance were overruled by the West India Company's directors.That right to religious tolerance - then in its elemental legal form - had been planted in 1624 on Governors (then "Noten") Island by the first settlers from the Dutch Republic to land in the New Netherland territory (they would move to Manhattan later). They had received specific instructions that "by example" they were to attract the natives and non-believers to God's word "without however to persecute someone by reason of his religion and to leave everyone the freedom of his conscience." Those instructions also incorporated the laws and ordinances of the States of Holland, whose 1579 founding document stated "that everyone shall be free in religion and that no one shall be persecuted or investigated because of religion." That "rule of law" and the legal-cultural tradition of tolerance thus became the basis of ethnic diversity in New Netherland (now the Tri-State region).Those rights did not disappear, even after the English had taken over New Amsterdam in 1664 and renamed it New York. The diversity embodied in the colony there inspired the Virginian, William Byrd, to comment on his visit to New Amsterdam in 1682 that "they have as many sects of religion there as at Amsterdam."Over the intervening centuries, prejudice and intolerance toward minority religions and races never went away in New York. But the spirit of tolerance never died out, either. It culminated in the First Amendment of the Constitution in 1791 - upon the insistence of New York's Gov. George Clinton.To honor the source of America's ultimate virtue, we should recognize Governors Island as the only existing historic American symbol of 17th-century tolerance. We could turn this little island between Brooklyn and Manhattan, now partly a national monument, into a model exhibit to remind the world that tolerance is a precursor to liberty-for-all. Preserving this ideal condition remains an ongoing struggle - and only awareness and vigilance will sustain it. Looking back to 1624 we can see that Governors Island is the actual source of American pluralism. From the first arrival of Jews 350 years ago to the inauguration of Abe Beame in 1974 as

New York City's first Jewish mayor lie profoundly important lessons that are no less relevant today.Tolerance is a fundamental cultural asset, a defining element of what makes America. We would do well to honor that tradition by turning Governors Island into a natural beacon of this human right.Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.Joep de Koning is the founder and CEO of the Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam, which hopes to build a tolerance park on Governors Island.

Foundation for Historic New Am

PRESIDENTIAL PETITION - REDRESS OF GRIEVANCE  •   posted 11/2/04 9:55:AMNATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLE*Historic New AmsterdamLiving Museum-to-Tolerance on Governors IslandA historical museum-park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century NY, NJ and CTA place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of the Tri-State’s earliest architectural and material culture139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452

Election Day, November 2, 2004The Hon. George W. Bush President, United States of AmericaThe White House        Washington, DC 20500        PETITIONDear President Bush,During your first term in office we have advanced the notion of dedicating America’s ONLY NATURAL National Monument—Governors Island—to the defining element of “American” liberty by way of a 50-acre not-for-profit historical TOLERANCE PARK to be complemented by a TOLERANCE MONUMENT of 21st-century architectural greatness.We had initially presented this vision to your predecessor President Clinton and, since your inauguration, have called upon you various times to approve or endorse the project thus realizing the island’s intrinsic symbolism for the good of the nation. The proposal was clearly anticipatory of the importance of tolerance as the dynamic value in “American” liberty and as a fundamental cultural asset (see April 24, 2000 letter to President Clinton).The act of extreme global intolerance and terror that caused destruction and death 1-1/2 year later validated the efficacy of our project. That 9/11 event challenged America’s fundamental precepts and compelled you to [re]act. Yet, we are still awaiting a White House [re]action—any—that addresses the rationale why our proposal doesn’t deserve your response in spite of the catalytic 9/11/01 catastrophe.We are convinced that the national merit of our plan—its grandness, its historic significance and lasting educational worth to future generations of Americans—ought to transcend the fleeting importance of party

loyalists, political insiders and friends [and the favors they may be owed] with regard to a political response to the 9/11 calamity of intolerance. Not belonging to your immediate inner circle, therefore, shouldn’t disqualify us from receiving an earnest reply worthy of the National Heritage Triangle vision (see July 6, 2004 NY Times article on Roland Betts and Tom Bernstein).The island is America’s indisputable natural National Monument NOT because of the subjectively perceived architectural importance of some real property but because of THE ISLAND'S OBJECTIVELY PROVEN HISTORIC PEDIGREE as the legally recognized 1624 birthplace of New York State and the site where America’s ultimate virtue of tolerance took root. As the original source of American pluralism, the national significance of the island’s symbolism as an explicit human right ought to be preserved so it can serve as an enduring beacon to humanity.Now that a second term may be ahead of you, we would like you to contemplate, once more, our proposed canvass of profound creativity and meaning for the furtherance of American liberty on its historically rightful place. A decision to politically dedicate Governors Island to America’s vital symbol of tolerance is one of ethical choice and depends on the integrity of those who serve the nation rather than themselves.Your endorsement, therefore, would serve as a moral compass to help guide a New York State and City pronouncement on the island’s reutilization. We know that, now, it will be their decision to honor and foster America’s ideal tradition of tolerance on its place-of-origin in the year 1624—Governors Island (see September 29, 2004 Newday article).Our petition seeking your endorsement is in the spirit of a similar one made by settlers in New Amsterdam (now New York City) 355 years ago when they exercised their right to “PETITION THE GOVERNMENT FOR A REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES”. That right-to-petition [you] was ratified in 1791 in the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.We look forward to hearing from you whether we can have your endorsement.                                Sincerely,                Joep de Koning                HistNewAmsterdam@aol.comcc: Founder of “PRESERVE AMERICA”, First Lady Laura Bush                                        

Foundation for Historic New Am

PETITION CABINET  •   posted 11/5/04 7:48:PMNovember 5, 2004The Hon. Dick Cheney                        Vice President of the United StatesThe White HouseWashington, D.C. 20500PETITIONDear Vice President Cheney,To preserve and defend our freedoms as well as democratic principles, intolerance can only be fought with intolerance. Doubtless, you are familiar with the recent stabbing of Theo van Gogh, writer and film producer in Amsterdam, which illustrates the destructive force of intolerance as a poison on a diverse, culturally

harmonious and free society.Tolerance, therefore, is always a two-way street. It is the foundation and defining element of “AMERICAN” freedom as guaranteed to all American citizens under the Constitution and the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. Typically, religious, ethnic and racial tolerance is a specific, DYNAMIC value whereas freedom is generally a generic, STATIC notion.As “tolerance” fosters and fortifies American cultural pluralism, it is more relevant and quintessentially American than the undemanding word “freedom” which any inhabitant of this world with insular interests embraces without understanding it— for example, many insurgent Iraqis believe that they are fighting for freedom (certainly not “AMERICAN” freedom). The ideal of “tolerance”, therefore, is a fundamental human right as described by Unesco’s November 16, 1995, Declaration of Principles on Tolerance.Our proposal for the National Heritage Triangle, with Governors Island symbolizing tolerance as both America’s tradition and its ultimate virtue, is fully in line with American values and President Bush’s policies.We have petitioned President Bush whose urgent endorsement of the tolerance park project we are seeking in the same way that President Ulysses Grant endorsed the Statue of Liberty.Will you please discuss that with him and let us know the results of that conversation.We look forward to hearing from you.                Sincerely,                Joep de Koning                HistNewAmsterdam@aol.comcc: National Security Adviser Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, Senior Presidential Advisor Karl Rove, Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card, Jr.

richie ny gov island plan  •   posted 11/15/04 2:35:PMmake it sports island, put the nets, jets, and mets new stadiums there. put a hotel and an office building complex. mall and boardwalk +parks on the water around the island. put a landfill between the island +brooklyn side. u build a ferry terminal = brings in fans from the city, nj,+ staten island. connenct the bqe to the island, extend a train from atlantic ave. i know this will cost a ton of cash but heres what u do. u get the jets stadium west side stadium cash, the nets ratners cash, whatever money the mets put up and u add it all up and build. should be more then enough cash because the city already owns the land. put a police,fire,ems stations on the island.and then u got a perfect island, city wont ruin any neigborhoods u get   stadiums w/ a veiw of the city+statue of liberety and to top it all off you get to do it right because its all untapped land. and since they city owns the land and pretty much giving it to mets/jets/nets. make them pick up most of the cost. it shouldnt cost taxpayers a dime. useless island too tri-team sports complex. great idea.    by the way i dont know how big the island is but if its big enoungh do it. its atleast big enough to put 1 of the stadiums there.

ScottofHunterCollege Preservationa and Education, you sadden me RichieN  •   posted 2/17/06 9:35:PMthis is one of the most ridiculous ideas I have ever heard. You don't have to take a class in urban planning to realize how unbeneficial, however beneficial to you, that plan of Richie NY would be. The GIPEC, Governors Island 

Preservation and Education Corporation, is named just so; because the island should be and will be used to concentrate on an educational facility and for a priority on preservation. The island will present the potential for open space, that is mostly unseen in New York City, for public recreational uses. Public and private schools can use the land for underutilized athletic programs and combat the increased obesity rates of the city's population. There is already substantial infrastructure for CUNY to possible venture into a residential campus. There is a quite pristine ecology that must be maintained. Additionally, the island will be another addition to the city's already booming cultural environment. the island is full of history and still resembles much of its past. Fort Jay and Castle Williams will become the Alamo's of the east. A possible transit route, either a ferry shuttle from Brooklyn to Governors Island to Manhattan and back or a aerial tram, that has been recently introduced will allow for another option for those in Brooklyn to enter Manhattan, and vice-versa. REd Hook, Brooklyn will be less extremely isolated from the rest of the city with a new transit connection and will be benefited by the potential development. As lovely as Central Park, Van Cortlant Park, Pelham Bay Park, Prospect Par, and the many ofher beautiful parks around this Great City, there is always demand for more space, especially Green Space. This Green Space will not be isolated as just a park, but along with other development, that I hope GIPEC will deliver. There will be something for everyone of New York: The students of elementary and high schools will have more recreational fields and possible space for marine oriented high schools; college students belonging to both private and public universities may have the chance to both study, conduct research, and live in an environement that provides a rural setting in the middle of the most famous American harbors surrounded by the most famous metropolitan; tourists will be able to enjoy yet another addition to the culture they came to seek, not seen since the addition of Ellis Island; the economy by the influx of tourism; and many other constituents of New York City 

who deserve this land. By law, Casinos, permenant housing, and industrial are not allowed, so hopefully, GIPEC and the fuel that burns in the City, State, and Federal bureaucracies will allow for a positive environment to develop and nurture this city and its residents. So, shame on you Richie NY, for describing your name as Richie of New York, because you seem to have the wrong interests in you mind. (then again, you may be from Jersey)

Laughing Wolf Governors Island plan  •   posted 7/26/06 11:00:PMRichie from NY doesn't have a bad idea at all, it's just not thought out enough. Scott, your idea is beautiful on paper but practically impossible.The main problem with Governors Island is that no bridges or tunnels access it. This is the main reason nobody (developers) wants this island, the only access is a ferry service, which isn't cheap. Running ferries cost the USCG 75 million dollars annually and this was the primary reason why they "abandoned" the island.When the city asked the the top developers what they would do with the island, they all gave the same answer: "The first one on this island loses money but the second one makes money." So by this logic, everyone is waiting to be the second one on this island. Hence, who is going to be foolish enough to lose money?As wonderful as you (Scott) think your idea of making the island into some kind of wildlife preserve where people could come to look at foliage and fall in love with nature is a pipe dream. If this were the case people would only come to the island once and buy the t-shirt. How mant tourists go to Staten Island? It's a much bigger island AND THAT FERRY RIDE IS FREE! Besides, you don't have to be the city comptroller to know that a CUNY or even a private college will cover the costs of the general maintainance involved in the up keep of the island!Giants Stadium is 20 acres and the propossed Yankee Stadium will be 22 acres. Governors Island is 170 acres. Maybe a stadium for the Jets at the lower end of the island isn't a bad idea. At least better than putting it on the Westside highway.Football teams have only ten home games a year at one game per week and every team is also given a bye week. With ten whole days out of 365 per year, this will be a minimal intrusion to the island and its enviornment. The city (or franchise) can run ferries from several pick up points in the area delivering carless fans to the island in an orderly fashion. And as long as the ferries are dry, fans can sober up on the ferry rides home. Construction workers can build this thing with virtually no impact or disturbance to any comunities, they're on an island!The bottom line is that New York is where people come from all over the world to make money and everyone expects to make lots of it. A football team will make money on Governors Island. Just think of all the jobs this project will bring. Football will have the least impact on the islands enviornment. And with an empty stadium 355 days a year, you can have all the Mozart concerts there you want. 

jeff holmes Be Careful with Governors Island  •   posted 11/16/04 2:27:PMWhatever gets done must be well thought out and not appreciably change the current island - to do otherwise,

detroys what we want presevered.As a former resident of the island, I can speculate with the best of those interest groups and well intended folks, all of whom have their own twist on the subject of what to do with this little island gem. The real question is "How to do whatever we do." Tread lightly, show respect for its character, age and history; do things in a low key low profile way and do not treat this opportunity as a way to show off your company, your group, your school, your personal acumen - keep it simple, straightfoward and operate as though the patient were an antique (which it is) - very carefully.

SW Integrate the island into the urban fabric!  •   posted 11/23/04 10:14:PM

If there is one thing New York City it is missing is a historical, low-rise "old city." Lower Manhattan has largely been overrun by office towers. The steeple of Trinity Church is not the highest structure in the city, and it hasn't been for a long time. Federal Hall, where George Washington was sworn in as President and where the Congress first convened, has been engulfed by skyscrapers.

Unlike New York, many North American cities such as Savannah, Quebec City, Boston and Philadelphia have managed to retain, whether by sheer chance or by the work of preservationists, the historic and dense character of their old centers. They lend cities a sense of authenticity. They ground them in history. Governor's Island can be redeveloped as a living, breathing re-creation of the Dutch, English, and early American old New York. The northern part of the island can be transformed if a subway or car tunnel is built to link it to Manhattan and Brooklyn. Instead of simply building hotels for tourists, we can build homes and shops, perhaps in 5-storey Dutch style canal houses or brick English rowhouses. The pre-existing large military building on the island can be transformed into a CUNY college, keeping a constant flow of people to the island. Neo-gothic style churches and libraries can be built. The center parts of the island, including the historic homes, can be preserved as a park for the island's residents. Docks and quays can be built along the shores. There could be New York's answer to "plymouth rock", a memorial or marker where the Dutch first landed. Perhaps commemorate the place where the first windmill stood. Finally, a museum can be built.

Why not keep the historic architecture of a "Historic Williamsburg" but integrate it into the urban fabric? Why not make it "real", where

people can live and work, instead of just a tourist trap? We need the housing in this city, and besides, tourists like visiting New York because New Yorkers get so much out of the city. Governor's Island can be transformed into a neighborhood that people would truly love to be a part of.

And in the spirit of New York and the Dutch we can make the development equitable by setting aside 30% of construction for affordable housing.

jeff holmes reply to SW  •   posted 12/1/04 10:38:AM

I like the basic gyst of your argument. You've got it right, but perhaps overshot the mark just a little, when it comes to creating the environment you envision. To me, that environment currently exists, and has for some time. While we need to keep this "neighborhood" unique, it must continue to reflect its past. The less new construction the better, thus preserving what's there already - afterall, part of the charm of any neighborhood results from it history and the decisions made by locals long ago that seem somewhat anachronistic today, but make up its unique character, odd configuration, ad hoc additions and deletions - all defining what it has been and is.

Rather than new construction of faux Dutch or other buildings, I suggest conversion and remodeling of current buuldings would maintain the integrity of your thesis, without traumatizing the existing island ambience. There is plenty of housing already available on GI - especially on the South end. Much of which could be put to good use if upgraded to code and spiffed up with paint, etc. To make GI just another NYC block is not the objective, as you rightly state - it must be truly unique, otherwise it isn't a neighborhood, afterall. I say, to best witness its history, keep the new construction to a minimum and use what's there already to its maximum advantage. Access via tunnel or otherwise, if done in low profile is fine, but no quays or docks, please - we'd have Santa Catalina, if not careful.

SW re:  •   posted 12/6/04 10:25:PM

Come to think of it, are there any small islands in the US that are

urbanized and which *aren't* like Santa Catalina?

There's Hilton Head Island, Block Island, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Key West, Fire Island, and NYC's own City Island; all of which are rather touristy and not exactly expressions of high urbanism. Is it a curse then?

And about my first post, you're right, faux-Dutch architecture is a bit much. I fetishize the European urban form, I have to admit. I was envisioning something more along the lines of central Stockholm. To impose that on the island would be inappropriate on several levels. Nevertheless I find that form endearing and think it can be applied in a more subtle manner. At its core it's mixed use, middle-density development. Perhaps a small part of the island near the docks at the north end could be built up as such.

The large, long structure (officers' quarters?) in the middle of the island I think would be great for a college. Whatever happened to CUNY being involved in the island's re-development? If the island is to be developed, I think it needs a major institution to ground it, to give it a purpose for being as a "real" part of the city instead of just a novelty (a la Santa Catalina or City Island).

jeff holmes More on GI  •   posted 12/22/04 2:39:PM

Gotcha!...and I agree. I spent the Fall and Winter of 2002-03 in Stockholm and liked the downtown, too -- practical, simple, clean architecture with some whimsical colors for accent. In a way, military architecture smacks of the same thing, without the color of course. And that could be added.I believe CUNY is still much involved and may in fact be "leading the pack" of interested parties to put the island to use. And I very much agree that there must be a CUNY or CUNY-like presence from which the rest of the island absorbs the basic look and feel. Need to have that anchor. Education, historical use, parkland and Arts - no more. The idea of "recreation" scares me, as it it can be construed so widely - my Catalina Island phobia, perhaps.

Meantime, what can we do to influence all this more directly? I am in NH and get to NYC perhaps twice or three times per year counting my last two island visits, that is.I check out the following web sites periodically, but things sure slow down in the Winter on this subject: GI Army Brats; GI National Monument (National Parks Service host site); GI Preservation and Education Corporation; NY Regional Plan Association/GI; and of course this forum---dunno what I can do besides comment on all these sites.

Jerry France Preservation  •   posted 11/27/04 8:52:AM

Fort Jay was hom base for the 16th Infantry Division, which began our entry into the war against Hitler with the invasion of Africa. The wounded of that campaign were returned to Halloran Hospital on Staten Island.

It was customary for Army families to be re-stationed every three years, but our Uncle Bill, Sgt. William Keough, who raised us, retired in 1925, and remained on Governor's Island in a civilian capacity to supervise the delivery of coal, the only fuel used for heating the Island's buildings. Tom and I lived there as children from 1926 until we enlisted in the Army in 1943. We know Governor's Island, especially my brother who lives now in Rockland County, N.Y. I suggest he be included in any study group pertaining to ultimate use of that marvelous, unique facility. Jerry Keough France

SW re:  •   posted 12/6/04 10:22:PMCome to think of it, are there any small islands in the US that are urbanized and which *aren't* like Santa Catalina?There's Hilton Head Island, Block Island, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Key West, Fire Island, and NYC's own City Island; all of which are rather touristy and not exactly expressions of high urbanism. Is it a curse then?And about my first post, you're right, faux-Dutch architecture is a bit much. I fetishize the European urban form, I have to admit. I was envisioning something more along the lines of central Stockholm. To impose that on the island would be inappropriate on several levels. Nevertheless I find that form endearing and think it can be applied in a more subtle manner. At its core it's mixed use, middle-density development. Perhaps a small part of the island near the docks at the north end could be built up as such.The large, long structure (officers' quarters?) in the middle of the island I think would be great for a college. Whatever happened to CUNY being involved in the island's re-development? If the island is to be developed, I think it needs a major institution to ground it, to give it a purpose for being as a "real" part of the city instead of just a novelty (a la Santa Catalina or City Island).

Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam

AUSCHWITZ COMMEMORATION  •   posted 1/28/05 5:34:PMJanuary 27, 2005The Hon. Dick Cheney        Vice President of the United StatesThe White HouseWashington, D.C. 20500        

        LIFEBLOOD OF AMERICAN LIBERTY

Dear Vice President Cheney,Today, you attended the 60th anniversary commemoration of camp Auschwitz’s liberation. Undoubtedly, you may have felt that religious, ethnic and racial tolerance is at the root of liberty as we know it. You may thus realize the value of tolerance as the dynamic element in freedom. Tolerance defines “general” freedom by giving it meaning. Therefore, it must be sustained through broad awareness and conscious vigilance. It is a basic human right (as defined by Unesco) and is fundamental to the ideal of “American” liberty-for-all in what otherwise would be “generic” freedom.In that context, it is fitting to present you with an article about the arrival and residency, in 1654 and 1655, of the first Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews in New York City (then New Amsterdam). The article, written in honor of the 350th anniversary commemoration of their official residency in North America, explains some of the historical bases that came to characterize “American” freedom (see the reverse).Another article, published in August 2000, focuses on the legal right to seek redress of grievances. That privilege was first exercised in America by a group of settlers in 1649 and later was codified in the First Amendment. The right to petition to the highest authorities (who were legally answerable to the petitioners) was indispensable in the exercise of one’s other rights (such as freedom of religion and speech) and resulted in major changes for the Province of New Netherland (now the New York Tri-State region) including municipal rights for the town of New Amsterdam (now New York City) in 1653.President Ulysses Grant’s endorsement of the (French) Statue of Liberty helped transform Bedloe Island to Liberty Island. Similarly, we have been seeking President Bush’s endorsement of the National Heritage Triangle in order to encourage the state and the city of New York to help transform Governors Island to Tolerance Island. The Tolerance Park, Historic New Amsterdam, had been scheduled to open on September 11, 2009, the day on which we’ll commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Henry Hudson into New York harbor. His voyage became the anchor for U.S. liberty as we understand it.The Tolerance Park would be of immense tourism and economic value to New York above and beyond its relevant educational, historical and thematic value for the American nation. It is New York’s only and last chance to unearth, preserve and broadly promote its profound cultural inheritance; namely, tolerance as the dynamic component of “American” freedom.Governors Island - the nation’s earliest - known meeting point of three cultures in 1613-is inarguably America’s only natural human rights symbol as it signifies the place of origin of American tolerance in 1624. The island has great 21st-century relevance because it is the undisputed historical source of American pluralism as well as the legally recognized 1624 birthplace of New York State or the Tri-State region.Not receiving the President’s endorsement could mean rejection of the nation’s priceless cultural heritage, dismissal of the meaning of New York’s legacy to America ((Henry Hudson’s September 11, 1609 discovery as the basis for America’s republican, non-kingly, legal-cultural tradition), denial of New York’s cultural inheritance of tolerance as the source of American pluralism, ruination of a fundamental national symbol, obliteration of a human rights icon of immense visibility to the world and the damnation of a project of momentous meaning on its place-of-origin and with an inherent message of enormous 21st-century relevance.We hope that you will find the articles interesting enough to lead in helping with the creation of a significant undertaking and symbol for America (and the world) on the most distinct spot in the U.S.   In his inaugural speech of January 20, President Bush focused on “spreading freedom to the world”. What better way to spread that freedom than endorsing the vision of the National Heritage Triangle comprising the symbols of America’s fundamental values?        Sincerely,

        Joep de Koningcc: President George W. Bush, Governor G. Pataki, Senate Majority Leader J. Bruno, Assembly Speaker S. Silver, Mayor M. Bloomberg, Council Speaker G. Miller

Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam

JOHN ADAMS  •   posted 2/15/05 9:37:AMFebruary 15, 2005The Hon. George W. Bush                President of the United States of America        The White House        Washington, DC 20500        The Hon. Dick CheneyVice President of the United States of AmericaThe White HouseWashington, DC 20500PETITIONDear President Bush and Vice President Cheney,We implore you to bear in mind John Adams’s written words of 1823: “I modestly blush for my nation when I consider the low estimation in which we have held the importance of [the Dutch] connections with us. Their separation from England, union with France and Spain and their treaty with us was THE EVENT which ultimately turned the scale of the American Revolutionary war and produced the peace of 1783. But the truth is that neither France nor England, nor the friends of France or England in America, would even acknowledge it to be of any weight and consequently it has fallen into oblivion. BUT IN SOME FUTURE DAY IT MAY BE THOUGHT OF MORE IMPORTANCE”.Would you therefore be willing, now, to consider the significance of John Adams’s statement and accredit “THE EVENT” that produced the 1783 peace? Will you thus be inclined to understand and accept the importance to America of the society that founded a colony among the original thirteen and, hence, be ready to acknowledge historical facts of extraordinary consequence to the nation?May you, for that reason, grant Governors Island its historic place in American history as being the nationally recognized locus of that colony’s [now New York’s] cultural history because it served as the(1)        Crossroad of Three Cultures in 1613 (free natives, free Africans and Europeans); and is the(2)        Legally Recognized Place of First Settlement in 1624; the(3)        Origin of American Toleration in 1624; the(4)        Source of American Pluralism in 1624; and the(5)        Birthplace of New York State in 1624 (as well as New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware).Consequently, the island’s implicit symbolism to the nation is an empirical fact. Only you can make that intrinsic symbolism explicit by endorsing the National Heritage Triangle of America’s fundamental values.To confer your endorsement of that envisaged island triad, we presume that you agree that it is NOT religion, ethnicity or race but that IT IS RELIGIOUS, ETHNIC AND RACIAL TOLERANCE THAT UNITES US IN FREEDOM; that is, “AMERICAN” freedom.Namely, the proposed triad of national symbols postulates that voluntary immigration (that is, Ellis Island) is a function of freedom (for instance, how many Africans arrived at Ellis Island?) and that freedom (that is, Liberty Island) is a function of tolerance (in an intolerant society freedom is not possible) so that Governors [Tolerance] Island will foster liberty and unite us in freedom through broad awareness and conscious vigilance of that dynamic virtue of tolerance --- a fundamental human right.

Forty-two years earlier, in 1781, John Adams wrote that “the originals of the two republics are so much alike that the history of one seems but a transcript from that of the other…the great characters the Dutch Republic exhibits…have been particularly STUDIED, ADMIRED, AND IMITATED IN EVERY AMERICAN STATE”. In other words, there is an inexorable historical, cultural and political connection between the two nations.May you therefore affirm John Adams’s yearning for that “FUTURE DAY” by sanctioning the National Heritage Triangle “TODAY”.

                Sincerely,Joep de Koningcc: His Excellency Clifford M. Sobel, Ambassador to the Netherlands                bcc: National Security Adviser Steve Hadley, Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice, Senior Advisor Karl Rove, Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card, Jr., Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, State Legislature Education, Tourism and Ethics Committees 

This Message Was Edited At 9:54:AM On 02/16/05 by the AdminFndn for Hist. New Amsterdam

WILL YOU SPONSOR?  •   posted 2/20/05 1:08:PMFebruary 18, 2005STATE AND CITY LEGISLATORS:                                        The North-American planting of the legal-cultural infrastructure of the Dutch REPUBLIC took place on this section of Governors Island by the first settlers in 1624. One hundred fifty two years later, in 1776, it was to become the crucial underpinning of the nascent American REPUBLIC.The settlers had arrived with the ship called Nieuw Nederland and built a fort and a windmill on the island (then called Noten Eylant). They were succeeded by more settlers in 1625 who disembarked on the island in June that year and unloaded livestock from three ships named Horse, Cow and Sheep.They planted the concept of toleration as a legal right on North America as per explicit orders. They had to attract, “by example”, the natives and non-believers to God’s word “without however to persecute someone by reason of his religion and to leave everyone the freedom of his conscience” (via “levenshouding en voorbeeld” moesten zij “de Indianen ende andere blinde menschen tot de kennisz Godes ende synes woort sien te trecken, sonder nochtans ijemant ter oorsaecke van syne religie te vervolgen, maer een yder de vrijch[eyt] van sijn consciencie te laten”).Those instructions were rooted in the founding document of the Dutch Republic, the 1579 Union of Utrecht, stating “that everyone shall remain free in religion and that no one may be persecuted or investigated because of religion” (“dat een yder particulier in sijn religie vrij sal moegen blijven ende dat men nyemant ter cause van de religie sal moegen achterhaelen ofte ondersoucken”).

Those settlers to Governors Island completed the legal claim on the territory according to the “Law of Nations”:(1) Discovery in 1609 by Henry Hudson of the Dutch East India Company; (2) surveying and charting the region from Cape Cod to the Delaware Bay from 1611 through 1614 by Adriaen Block and Hendrick Christaensz; and (3) taking “possession” through settlement in 1624. Some of the 1624 and 1625 settlers to Governors Island were geographically

dispersed to the Delaware River, the Connecticut River and at the top of the Hudson River (now Albany) to legally delineate the claim to the “Province of New Netherland” (now the Tri-State).Governors Island --- The United States’s earliest-known crossroad of three cultures in 1613 (free Native-Americans, free Africans and Europeans) --- is inarguably America’s only natural human rights symbol as it signifies the place of origin of American tolerance in 1624. The island has great 21st-century relevance because it is the undisputed historical source of American pluralism (diversity) as well as the legally recognized 1624 birthplace of New York State or the New York Tri-State region.The 1624 Governors Island settlement became the foundation of a highly relevant and important piece of American history whose principles have withstood the times and were indispensable in the further development of the United States. Its legacy is of profound meaning and significance because its concepts of religious and ethnic tolerance and civic and economic inclusiveness are the very ideals which form the bedrock of American culture and political philosophy.To this very day those notions live in America’s cultural history, its political institutions, and in its political and civic culture. That inheritance is also immensely pertinent to the future of our diverse nation as its precepts define “AMERICAN” freedom (as codified in the American Constitution and the Bill of Rights) by distinguishing it from “GENERIC” freedom.Namely, IT IS RELIGIOUS, ETHNIC AND RACIAL TOLERANCE --- THE LIFEBLOOD OF AMERICAN LIBERTY --- THAT UNITES US IN FREEDOM. In 1781, John Adams would write that “the originals of the two republics are so much alike that the history of one seems but a transcript from that of the other…the great characters the Dutch Republic exhibits…have been particularly studied, admired, and imitated in EVERY American State”.Therefore, the Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam is dedicated to transform Governors Island to a tolerance island in the same way that Bedloe Island was transformed to Liberty Island by the Statue of Liberty --- gifted by the people of France --- to commemorate the American Republic’s centennial.For the tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam to be successful, we must have U.S. political approval (through the State and City Legislatures) for the reservation of 50 acres at $1 per year for at least 99 years. That legislative approval is crucial in order to be able to open the park on September 11, 2009, upon the 400th anniversary commemoration of Henry Hudson’s discovery (then most likely only partly constructed as we have lost already eight years as well as a pledge of a $100 million contribution).

NOT RECEIVING THE LEGISLATURES’ SPONSORSHIP COULD MEAN REJECTION OF THE NATION’S (AND SPECIFICALLY NEW YORK’S) PRICELESS CULTURAL HERITAGE, DISMISSAL OF THE MEANING OF NEW YORK’S LEGACY TO AMERICA ((HENRY HUDSON’S SEPTEMBER 11, 1609 DISCOVERY AS THE BASIS FOR AMERICA’S REPUBLICAN, NON-KINGLY, LEGAL-CULTURAL TRADITION), DENIAL OF NEW YORK’S CULTURAL INHERITANCE OF TOLERANCE AS THE SOURCE OF AMERICAN PLURALISM, RUINATION OF A FUNDAMENTAL NATIONAL SYMBOL, OBLITERATION OF A HUMAN RIGHTS ICON OF IMMENSE VISIBILITY TO THE WORLD AND THE CONDEMNATION OF A PROJECT OF MOMENTOUS MEANING ON ITS PLACE-OF-ORIGIN AND WITH AN INHERENT MESSAGE OF ENORMOUS 21ST-CENTURY RELEVANCE.The Tolerance Park would be of immense long-term tourism and economic value to New York above and beyond its relevant educational, historical and thematic value. Historic New Amsterdam is New York’s only and last chance to unearth, preserve and broadly promote its profound cultural inheritance to America; namely, tolerance as the dynamic element in an otherwise generic and often meaningless freedom.Can you agree that voluntary immigration (that is, Ellis Island) is a function of freedom (for instance, how many Africans arrived at Ellis Island?) and that freedom (that is, Liberty Island) is a function of tolerance (in an intolerant society freedom is not possible) so that Governors [Tolerance] Island will foster liberty and unite us in freedom through broad awareness and conscious vigilance of that dynamic virtue of tolerance --- a fundamental human right and New York’s legacy.

If so, (1) WILL YOU GRANT Governors Island its historic place in American history as being the nationally recognized locus of that New York’s seventeenth-century cultural history and(2) WILL YOU SPONSOR a unibill to reserve 50 acres for the tolerance park thus making explicit the island’s implicit symbolism to the nation and realizing the National Heritage Triangle of America’s fundamental values: Tolerance, Freedom and Welcome?If you have any further questions, please advise.                                                                Joep de Koning, Founder and CEOFoundation for Historic New AmsterdamA Tolerance Park on Governors Islandto Compose the National Heritage Triangleof America’s Fundamental Values:Tolerance, Freedom and Welcome.HistNewAmsterdam@aol.com (212) 737-3216

masterdaddy

TIME TO MOVE ON  •   posted 7/5/05 11:18:AMStop trying to single out just one group of people, that is what causes problems, make it a place for all people who have come to the United States, ok, enough with auschwits, If we go down that road, then we should show all that is bad with the world from day one until today, ok, remember others dies in thies camps other then just jews?? ok

masterdaddy

TIME TO MOVE ON  •   posted 7/5/05 11:18:AMStop trying to single out just one group of people, that is what causes problems, make it a place for all people who have come to the United States, ok, enough with auschwits, If we go down that road, then we should show all that is bad with the world from day one until today, ok, remember others dies in thies camps other then just jews?? ok

Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam OBLITERATION STATE LEGACY  •   posted 3/15/05 1:27:PM

March 15, 2005

Senate Majority Leader Joseph BrunoAssembly Speaker Sheldon SilverAssembly Majority Leader Paul TokaszCity Council Speaker Gifford MillerSenate Committee on Education Chair Stephen SalandSenate Committee on Tourism Chair George MaziarzSenate Committee on Ethics Chair John FlanaganAssembly Committee on Education Chair Steven SandersAssembly Committee on Tourism Chair Joseph MorrelleAssembly Committee on Ethics Chair Mark WeprinSenator Liz KruegerRepresentative Pete Grannis

It is the Dynamic Value of Religious, Ethnic and Racial Tolerance- the Lifeblood of American Liberty -that Unites Us in Freedom

Dear Senators and Representatives,

You will undoubtedly realize that employees of an agency (the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation or GIPEC), together with their consultants and collaborators, can or will obliterate a national heritage with impunity. That national inheritance also happens to be a state and city legacy.

Skirting political responsibility or delegating political authority to appointees and employees of an agency, therefore, conflicts with a verdict on Governors Island's reutilization as a new destination which, because of the island's momentous legacy, concerns the State and City Legislatures BEYOND QUESTION.

Consequently, you, as politicians in leadership positions, have a responsibility to the people of New York and must determine the island's future. GIPEC's employees, consultants and urban planners may help you in coming to that explicit political yea or nay. However, your initiative and decision must precede their work, your action must come first.

Please, study the summary information on www.tolerancepark.org and let us know whether, during this legislative session, you can consider introducing the required legislation that will make the National Heritage Triangle become reality by setting aside 30% of the island for the tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam. Doing so, may be conditioned upon leaving up to 58% of the island for optimal economic development. Now, only four years are left for the scheduled opening of the park on September 11, 2009.

Alternatively, we must insist on having your thoughtful response to the rationale for the many years of silence to our appeals to you on this subject. Only you have the power to obliterate the state's legacy as embodied by Governors Island. You can't leave that up to an agency by default. Therefore, you must act!

Sincerely,

Joep de KoningPresident@tolerancepark.org

Janet Governor's Island  •   posted 3/18/05 11:18:AM

I suggest that some part of Governor's Island be adapted to make it a permanent Tanglewood for NYC - low cost outdoor concerts by the NY Phil., the Met Opera, other local and extra-NYC orchestras and opera cpmpanies, and other NYC, national and international arts groups of all kinds all summer. International groups would be welcome, including world music performers, all to add luster to the burgeoning downtown arts performance scene, and to bring the Tanglewood-like experience to NYC and to far more people than ever go to Mass. Picnics and wine allowed. 

Such a venue and such programming could bring New Yorkers together in an informal and mobile setting with visitors from all over the country and the world (i.e., one is on the grass, not stuck in a chair). If programming were coordinated with other summer efforts, for example Mostly Mozart, so as not to overlap much, then other summer arts efforts need not fear the competition.Culturally, the emphasis would be by far classical music, not pop, so no competition also with Summerstage in Central Park.   Many visitors who love classical music, especially from abroad, I feel would gravitate toward this kind of cultural experience in NYC.

Janet Mindes, PhDNYC

Gil Gross Governor's Island  •   posted 9/11/05 3:55:PM

Dr. Mindes' idea is by far the best one I've read. Since the destruction of Lewisohn Stadium we really haven't had a consistent location for New Yorkers to join, mix and experience music together without the sort of damage that sometimes comes with concerts in Central Park.Those of us who have been under sail in NY Harbor know how quiet it can be there. No car horns [never in tune for "An American in Paris" or sirens [never quite what Varese had in mind].The concert hall has sadly become too expensive for even middle class New York, much less people who now that music appreciation classes are a thing of the past, would never hear Classical Music, Jazz [$50 cover charge + 2 drink minimum] or many other kinds of music.Los Angeles has the Hollywood Bowl. New York deserves its own Island.

Gil Grossgil.gross@abc.com

Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam

TRANSFORMING PLURALITY  •   posted 3/19/05 3:33:PMMarch 19, 2005Mr. John C. Whitehead        ChairmanLower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC)65 East 55th Street, 26th FloorNew York, NY 10022

It is the Dynamic Value of Religious, Ethnic and Racial Tolerance- the Lifeblood of American Liberty - that Unites Us in FreedomDear Mr. Whitehead,As a continuation of our previous communications to you with respect to the deeper meaning of the act of destruction that took place at the World Trade Towers Center site, we would like to point out to you the website WWW.TOLERANCEPARK.ORGIt may help you further understand the connotation of "American" freedom and how tolerance shaped that freedom by transforming plurality into constructive pluralism as a never finished product of American culture. Tolerance, therefore, is the indispensable dynamic component of past as well as prospective American liberty or civilization.In the year 1624, Governors Island became the birthplace of New Netherland (now the Tri-State region) as well as the place-of-origin of American tolerance and the source of American pluralism. Therefore, we had envisaged the transformation of Governors Island to the American symbol of tolerance in the way that the Statue of Liberty transformed Bedloe Island to Liberty Island as the American symbol of freedom.Because of the island's momentous legacy to American history and culture, we proposed a historical park-to-tolerance to be complemented by a tolerance monument of 21st-century architectural greatness.Then, as now, we had in mind the disfigured Castle Williams and/or the unauthentic Fort Jay as potential footprint(s) for such a structure - conceptually not dissimilar to Saarinen's Arch of St. Louis as Gateway-to-the-West.Political polarization, amongst other, by city politicians and officials, forced us to seek a response to our proposals at the state level and, subsequently, from the White House and federal government as the island's owner (see letter to President Bill Clinton of April 24, 2000).Finally, the horrific global act of intolerance, on 9/11/2001, became the catalyst for reactive political action. The requisite need for "initiative" and "vision", now had become acute. That political need produced a "Freedom Tower" to be complemented by a "Freedom Center".Naturally, we had hoped that the LMDC would have chosen the island - being the nation's only natural historic fundamental symbol - for a "National Monument to the Victims of Intolerance". But do the currently promulgated "freedom" creations exclude our original vision for the island to serve as symbol of tolerance by composing an island triad representing America's fundamental values with the appellation of "National Heritage Triangle"?Specifically, the island's National Monument, managed by the National Park Service (NPS), is still available for proactive political vision and initiative. Furthermore, the publicly broadcasted private vision for Castle Williams, to become a Shakespeare Theater, is a preposterous abomination and corruption of history. To portray an English icon on the very birthplace of New Netherland is an enigma or hoax and must be evidence of profound historical ignorance as well as continual, deliberate political denial of the island's legacy to the nation in the face of eight years of correspondence on the subject to politicians and their appointees.We just wanted to share those thoughts with you as it is a subject close to our heart and in case your deliberations may still prove to be flexible or as yet emerging.Sincerely,                                                                                                    Joep de Koning President@tolerancepark.org

cc: LMDC Directors, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, NPS Director Frances Mainella, NPS Regional Director Marie Rust, GIPEC Chairman Randy Danielsbcc: President George Bush, Governors George Pataki, Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Fndn for Historic New Amsterda

DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY of a LIFETIME  •   posted 3/26/05 10:41:AMMarch 25, 2005Mr. Peter G. Riguardi        President, New York RegionJones Lang LaSalle153 East 53rd StreetNew York, NY 10022The Dynamic Value of Religious, Ethnic and Racial Tolerance - the Lifeblood of American Liberty - Unites Us in FreedomDear Mr. Riguardi,With well over 200,000 pages of letters and presentations distributed to three political jurisdictions over a period of eight years, we are surprised to receive the very first response on March 23, 2005, albeit indirect, through Jones Lang LaSalle as real estate services company.The invitation calls for a "development opportunity of a lifetime: Governors Island, The Island at the Center of the World".The latter slogan was the title of a book written by Russell Shorto, started in the year 2000 and published by Doubleday in March 2004. It should confirm to you that Governors Island is the 1624 birthplace of New Netherland, the origin of American tolerance and the source of American pluralism.You may thus conclude that the island's worth to the nation is more valuable than its real estate.Governors Island leads America's other two symbols on Liberty Island and Ellis Island both in terms of historical priority as well as national meaning. The Government Island symbol is therefore priceless!During the first three years of city and state political stonewalling (1998 through 2000), and in order to compel those politicians to deal with us, we conducted a media campaign in The Netherlands through national television, national radio as well as national and local print media in addition to a large scale lobbying effort among the various ministries, parliament and among the royal members of the House of Orange Nassau.As a result, a delegation visited the city in the year 2000 to deliver a $100 million pledge designed to open the park on 9/11/2009, the day of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's discovery. Yet, any hope for political dialogue remained elusive at best. That Netherlands-based group has now been disbanded and its leader died last year. More on that can be deduced from studying the site www.tolerancepark.org including a link on its home page.Our question to you is: How can anyone take the development process and your invitation seriously after eight years of political silence in response to about 25,000 hours of time I personally have put into the effort as well as a personal expenditure of over $2 million? Furthermore, I can't even start to calculate the total hours put in by thousands of associated people on both sides of the ocean with respect to the proposed tolerance park project.I hope you forgive me for asking but I am a bit more than curious as to what exactly prompts you now to send us a "Request for Expressions of Interest" which is due in 7-1/2 weeks by May 16, 2005?How can we possibly respond to your invitation package? May we ask your advice in the matter?

Sincerely,                                                                                            Joep de Koning 

President@tolerancepark.orgcc: Mr. Cubie H. Dawson, Ms. Barbara B. Denhambcc: Senators Bruno, Saland, Maziarz, Flanagan, Krueger;Representatives Silver, Tokasz, Miller, Sanders, Morrelle, Weprin, GrannisInterior Secretary Gale Norton, National Park Service Director Frances Mainella, NPS Regional Director Marie Rust

Fndn for Historic New Amsterda

$100 million CHALLENGE GRANT  •   posted 4/23/05 5:32:PMApril 22, 2005Mr. John C. Whitehead        ChairmanLower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC)65 East 55th Street, 26th FloorNew York, NY 10022REQUEST FOR A $100 MILLION CHALLENGE GRANTDear Mr. Whitehead,With regard to the Draft LMDC Allocation Plan, the Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam would like the LMDC to consider making available $100 million [out of $735 million in remaining funds for downtown projects] as a challenge grant. The grant would enable the start-up of a proposed 50 acre tolerance park, Historic New Amsterdam, on Governors Island (see http://www.tolerancepark.org).In addition, the LMDC grant would help transform the nation’s oldest natural historic monument - Governors Island as origin of American toleration, source of American pluralism and birthplace of New York State in 1624 - into America’s fundamental symbol of tolerance thus typifying that dynamic value in “American” liberty.What's more, the tolerance park will compose the National Heritage Triangle comprising an island triad symbolizing America’s primary precepts in New York Harbor - tolerance, freedom and welcome.Tolerance - always a two-way street, not one-way accommodation - forges “American” freedom by relentlessly transforming plurality into constructive pluralism as a never finished product of American culture. The 9/11/2001 attack was an act of global intolerance, perpetrated in the name of religion. That horrific assault affirmed and underscored the view that American freedom depends on the sustenance of the active notion of tolerance through broad awareness and conscious vigilance. Freedom cannot be understood save as hollow or generic when not understanding the interdependent, dual notion of tolerance and liberty as being the basis of American heterogeneity.The envisaged new iconic National Heritage Triangle will be accessible from lower Manhattan and as a result will have a major economic effect on the area’s revitalization by incrementally enticing a diverse array of tourists and city residents to lower Manhattan. That tangible economic value as well as the immense intangible worth to the City, State and the United States of America of the National Heritage Triangle as omnipresent symbol warrants your consideration, allocation and utilization of, amongst other, Community Development Block Grant funds.The LMDC challenge grant therefore would help convert now meaningless local real estate into a meaningful national symbol by protecting, preserving and sustaining the active virtue of tolerance on its 1624 source and by realizing New York State's most momentous legacy to the nation for the benefit of future generations.The Hon. Alphonso Jackson, Secretary of HUD, is intimately familiar with our proposal. So is the White House, the Bush Cabinet and various pertinent federal agencies as well as the New York State Congressional Delegation and all state and city politicians. Prompt consideration of the grant request is required in view of the planned opening of the tolerance park

upon the 400th anniversary commemoration, in 2009, of Henry Hudson’s arrival in Godyns Bay (now New York Bay) on September 11, 1609.We urge your earnest and prompt consideration of our funding request for this enduring beacon to humanity.Sincerely,Joep de Koning President@tolerancepark.org                                                                        WELCOME (Ellis)                            TOLERANCE (Governors)         FREEDOM (Liberty)                                                                                                                                cc: LMDC Directors, Secretary of HUD Alphonso Jackson, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, NPS Director Frances Mainella, NPS Regional Director Marie Rust; Governor George E. Pataki, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, GIPEC Chairman Randy Daniels, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, City Council Speaker A. Gifford Miller;President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney; U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton;bcc: Preserve America Founder First Lady Laura Bush; Senators Saland, Maziarz, Flanagan, Krueger; Representatives Tokasz, Sanders, Morrelle, Weprin, Grannis; Borough Presidents C. Virginia Fields, Marty Markowitz, Helen Marshall, Adolfo Carrion, James P. Molinaro

DebbieNYC what to do with Governor's Island??!!?  •   posted 5/30/05 12:59:PMHere is my Proposal, how about housing for our returning Vets? So many come back with no home to come back to for various reasons, loss of job, loss of family. They fought for us and we can't turn our back on them, yet they are homeless. This was a military facility, lets keep it that way for our Veterans.

Laughing Wolf

Dis our vets?  •   posted 7/26/06 11:07:PMWhy Quarentine our Vets? What did they do so wrong that you want to chorden them off like some kind of outcasts? Besides, who is going to pay for the maintenance of the island?

Fndn for Historic New Amsterda

SYMBOL vs COMMERCIAL  •   posted 8/10/05 10:34:AMMr. John C. Whitehead,ChairmanLower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC)65 East 55th Street, 26th FloorNew York, NY 10022July 29, 2005The Dynamic Value of Religious, Ethnic and Racial Toleranceî ºthe Lifeblood of American Libertyî ºUnites Us in FreedomDear Mr. Whitehead,Enclosed is a booklet that we delivered to the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation last month. It summarizes a proposal for the transformation of Governors Island to its original, historic, core message of tolerance which î º in a religious, ethnic and racial context î º is the defining notion in â œAmericanâ � freedom as well as the

indispensable cement for the conversion of plurality to constructive societal pluralism*.We entreat you to peruse our proposal once more because the island symbol (1)        promulgates naturally what constitutes â œAmericanâ � freedom. Therefore, it ought to receive at least equal political weight, if not preferred political consideration to what is now contemplated to be constructed on the WTC site as a proclamation of â œInternationalâ � freedom; (2)        envisions a Tolerance Monument of 21st-century architectural grandeur as a complement to the historical Tolerance Park. The island-based Tolerance Monument would not have a dual function as with the â œFreedom Towerâ � that is also to serve as a commercial office tower. Therefore, our proposed Tolerance Monument would not attract a terrorist attack in which fatalities is its main objective. As a result, our proposal provides the LMDC with an option to pursue the rebuilding of single-purpose commercial office towers on the WTC site thus reducing immensely the probability of attack and potential for death;   (3)        is the only natural, historic, fitting symbol to serve as one of Americaâ ™s fundamental values which are thus inexorably linked in a triad of iconic islands as bases for Americaâ ™s primary notion of liberty.Tolerance-and-trade was the foundation of New York City and made the entrepreneurial success of waves of immigrants to this nation possible. The enclosed article explores the global context in which full Jewish residency in America took place 350 years ago. It is the precept of tolerance î º a historical, archetypical New York message going back to 1624î ºthat denotes New Yorkâ ™s cultural legacy to â œAmericanâ � liberty.Sincerely,                                                                                    Joep de Koning                        www.TolerancePark.org* On September 11, 1609, Henry Hudson, Captain of the ship â œHalve Maenâ � [Half Moon], sailed into New York Harbor as the covert forerunner for the overt introduction of a republican, non-kingly, pluralist culture based on commerce and social mobility. That cultureâ ™s precepts of freedom and liberty, based on the â œRight-of-Manâ � doctrine and the dynamic notion of â œToleranceâ �(1), became the foundation of the Original Thirteen and are New Yorkâ ™s cultural heritage to the nation. The planting of that legal-cultural tradition took place on Governors Island in 1624 â “ the birthplace of the New York Tri-State region and the origin of American tolerance. The horrific 9/11/2001 assault - an act of global intolerance - was perpetrated in the name of religion. Not acting upon recognized intolerance affirms that laxity, passivity and apathy are its friends. Tolerance â “ an active notion â “ demands. Always a two-way-street, not one-way accommodation, it defines and gives meaning to an otherwise undemanding, generic liberty. Only broad awareness and conscious vigilance of religious, ethnic and racial tolerance will help safeguard â œAmericanâ � liberty because in an intolerant [disrespecting, discriminatory] society liberty-for-all is not possible. (1) www.NationalHeritageTriangle.com        cc: Mr. Stefan Pryor, President, LMDC; Ms. Gretchen Dykstra, President and CEO, WTC Memorial Foundation, Inc. bcc: President of the United States of America, George W. Bush; Founder of Preserve America, First Lady Laura Bush; Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney; Harriet Miers, Esquire, Counsel to the President; Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy nominee, Karen Hughes; Deputy Under Secretary of State for Education and Cultural Affairs, Dina Powell; U.S. Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice; Governor George Pataki; Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno; Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver; NYS Attorney General E. Spitzer; Manhattan District Attorney R. Morgenthau; Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly; Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism Mr. Michael Sheehan; Deputy Chief Counterterrorism John Colgan; Larry Silverstein; Ms. Monica Iken; Ms. Barbara Walters;

Mr. David Rockefeller; Mr. Thomas Renyi; Hon. Peter G. Peterson; Mr. Ira M. Millstein; Ms. Agnes Gund; Mr. Maurice R. Greenberg; Mr. Richard D. Parsons, Mr. Kenneth I. Chenault; Mr. William B. Harrison Jr.; Mr. Henry R. Kravis; Mr. Michael D. Eisner; Ms. Anne M. Tatlock; Mr. Peter H. Lehrer; Dr. Josef Ackermann; Mr. E. John Rosenwald, Jr.; Ms. Judith Rodin; Mr. Vartan Gregorian; U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton

Fndn for Historic New Amsterda

FATHER of SUCCESSFUL PLURALITY  •   posted 8/15/05 3:12:PMMr. Michael Sheehan         Deputy Commissioner for CounterterrorismNew York Police DepartmentOne Police PlazaNew York, NY 10038August 12, 2005The Dynamic Value of Religious, Ethnic and Racial Toleranceî ºthe Lifeblood of American Libertyî ºUnites Us in FreedomDear Mr. Sheehan,The enclosed letters point out that the current plans for erecting replacement towers on the WTC site will increase the probability of future attack. Namely:Designed to combine commercial office space with a symbol, those plans may have been conceived thoughtlessly or gratuitously for short-term political expediency. For many people, therefore, they can be viewed as patently politicized to validate the Iraq war under the theme of â œexporting freedom to the worldâ �. For that reason, perhaps, we havenâ ™t met anyone who can reconcile intelligently the â œFreedomâ � Tower (or an International Freedom Center) with what happened on 9/11/01.By raising the odds of future attack, the highest possible number of potential fatalities is as inevitable as it is preventable.One could minimize the chance of a future attack on the WTC site by simply considering our proposal for a third-millennium monument to tolerance (the father of â œsuccessfulâ � plurality) which, together with a tolerance park, would visualize the effects of [religious, ethnic and racial] intolerance on our freedom (see August 24, 2000 letter to Bill Clinton and March 19, 2005 letter to John Whitehead).As we have pointed out for many years, the political decision for our Governors Island initiativeâ •of national historic importance, boldness and long-term visionâ •is one of ethical choice. The reactive effort for a â œFreedomâ � Tower is therefore more likely construed as a decision of short-term political self-interest.

Sincerely,                                                                                    Joep de Koning                        www.NationalHeritageTriangle.com         

cc: Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly; Deputy Chief Counterterrorism John ColganKarenpnyc New Orleans  •   posted 9/6/05 6:53:PM

simple we can bring many of the residence of New Orleans here, the island is perfect for them. My only question is why haven't we done it already. Seem like we are moving very slow also, or don't we care.

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POLITICAL SYMBOL vs COMMERCIAL TOWER  •   posted 9/11/05 12:17:PMMay 31, 2005The Hon. George E. PatakiGovernor, New York StateState CapitolAlbany, N.Y. 12224        The Hon. Michael R. BloombergMayor of the City of New YorkCity HallNew York, N.Y. 10007Mr. Larry A. Silverstein                        Silverstein Properties                        530 Fifth Avenue, 18st Floor                        New York, NY 10036                        COMMERCIAL TOWER versus POLITICAL SYMBOLDear Mr. Silverstein, Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg,As a follow-up to our October 31, 2003 letter to you, the enclosed explains why you should perhaps reconsider the naming of the replacement tower to the original name of â œWorld Trade Centerâ �. It is, after all, global trade which implicitly reflects the freedom America stands for. Trade is the equalizer of most global evil.By transforming a commercial tower to what could be seen by others as being a bombastic nationalist monument worthy of totalitarian regimes rather than a peoplesâ ™ republic, the commercial office space may or will forever invite and challenge those who donâ ™t see the new â œsymbol/monumentâ � (for commercial use) as reflecting â œtheirâ � freedom.Moreover, do we really need such a duplicative freedom symbol, seen by many as explicitly propagandistic, and overshadowing a liberty icon of humility, dignity and historical significance in New York harbor?Could you as yet contemplate the earlier envisaged TOLERANCE PARK and TOLERANCE MONUMENT on Governors Island which is the appropriate, historic place for a new â œsymbol/monumentâ � that defines â œAmericanâ � freedom*?

Sincerely,                                                                                    Joep de Koningwww.NationalHeritageTriangle.combcc: President of the United States of America, George W. Bush; Founder of Preserve America, First Lady Laura Bush; Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney; White House Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, Jr. and Deputy Chief of Staff, Sr. Adviser, Karl Rove; Counsel to the President, Harriet Miers, Esq.; U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Esq.; U.S. Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice; Ambassador and Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, Karen Hughes; Deputy Under Secretary of State for Education and Cultural Affairs, Dina Powell; Secretary of the Interior, Gale A. Norton; Director, National Park Service Frances P. Mainella; Secretary, U.S. Department of HUD, Alphonso Jackson; U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton; Secretary of State Randy Daniels; Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno; Assembly Majority Leader Paul Tokasz; Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver; City Council Speaker A. Gifford Miller;

Senate Committee on Ethics Chair, George Winner, Jr.; Assembly Committee on Ethics Chair, Kevin Cahill; Senate Committee on Education Chair, Stephen Saland; Assembly Committee on Education Chair, Steven Sanders; Senate Committee on Tourism Chair, Mary Lou Rath; Assembly Committee on Tourism Chair, Joseph Morelle; Senate Committee on Finance Chair, Owen Johnson; Assembly Committee on Econ. Devlpmnt Chair, Robin Schimminger; State Senator, Chair Minority Program Development, Liz Krueger; Assemblyman Alexander. B. Pete Grannis; State Comptroller, Alan G. Hevesi; City Comptroller, William C. Thompson Jr.; NYS Attorney General E. Spitzer; Manhattan District Attorney R. Morgenthau; remaining State Senators; remaining State Assembly Leadership Representatives; City Council members; Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Directors; WTC Memorial Foundation Directors; Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly; Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism, New York Police Department, Mr. Michael Sheehan; Deputy Chief, Counterterrorism, New York Police Department, Mr. John Colgan; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Empire State Development Corporation, Mr. Charles A. Gargano; President, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, Mr. Stefan Pryor; President and CEO, World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, Inc., Ms. Gretchen Dykstra; President and Chief Executive, Battery Park City Authority, Timothy S. Carey; Mr. Lloyd C. Blankfein; Mr. Henry M. Paulson Jr.; remaining State Senators, Assembly Representatives and City Council members; U.S. Representatives, New York Congressional Delegation

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COMMERCIAL VS. SYMBOLIC  •   posted 10/14/05 6:52:PMJune 13, 2005Mr. John ColganDeputy Chief, Counterterrorism UnitNew York Police DepartmentOne Police Plaza, Room 1109New York, NY 10038COMMERCIAL TOWER versus SYMBOLIC MONUMENTDear Mr. Colgan,With regard to the replacement towers on the World Trade Center site, we presume that the Police Department has made recommendations to improve security in order to reduce the potential for destruction and death.Those suggestions have focused, so far, on improving security with regard to the new towerâ ™s material structure as well as its physical placement in Manhattanâ ™s street patternâ •that is, the potential destructive impact when it happens. But what is the probability of it happening?You may agree that the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., the Gateway Arch in St. Louis or the Statue of Liberty are merely symbols or monuments. Therefore, they have a relatively low priority as objects of assault for terrorists simply because their destruction doesnâ ™t cause considerable deaths.Yet, no one seems to have paid attention to the huge opportunity to reduce substantially the potential coincidence of fatalities by merely reducing the probability of attack.Namely, by separating the function of a commercial office building from what is currently also designated to function as a symbol/monument, the probability of attack will be immensely reduced. In other words, mixing the commercial aspects with the political desire to make a statement (whether a right or wrong statement) will exponentially increase the prospect of attack and death.Personally, I would have no problem working in a World Trade Center, Citicorp Center, Empire State or Chrysler Building. I would however feel great discomfort in working in a â œFreedom Towerâ � with all the associated hoopla. I have

explained my concerns in the attached letter to Mr. Silverstein, the Governor and the Mayor.I hope that the above may be beneficial in the Police Departmentâ ™s security deliberations.                                        Sincerely,                                                                                                                            Joep de Koning                                        www.NationalHeritageTriangle.com   bcc: President of the United States of America, George W. Bush; Founder of Preserve America, First Lady Laura Bush; Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney; White House Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, Jr. and Deputy Chief of Staff, Sr. Adviser, Karl Rove; Counsel to the President, Harriet Miers, Esq.; U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Esq.; U.S. Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice; Ambassador and Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, Karen Hughes; Deputy Under Secretary of State for Education and Cultural Affairs, Dina Powell; Secretary of the Interior, Gale A. Norton; Director, National Park Service Frances P. Mainella; Secretary, U.S. Department of HUD, Alphonso Jackson; U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton; Governor George Pataki; Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Secretary of State Randy Daniels; Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno; Assembly Majority Leader Paul Tokasz; Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver; City Council Speaker A. Gifford Miller; Senate Committee on Ethics Chair, George Winner, Jr.; Assembly Committee on Ethics Chair, Kevin Cahill; Senate Committee on Education Chair, Stephen Saland; Assembly Committee on Education Chair, Steven Sanders; Senate Committee on Tourism Chair, Mary Lou Rath; Assembly Committee on Tourism Chair, Joseph Morelle; Senate Committee on Finance Chair, Owen Johnson; Assembly Committee on Econ. Devlpmnt Chair, Robin Schimminger; State Senator, Chair Minority Program Development, Liz Krueger; Assemblyman Alexander. B. Pete Grannis; State Comptroller, Alan G. Hevesi; City Comptroller, William C. Thompson Jr.; NYS Attorney General E. Spitzer; Manhattan District Attorney R. Morgenthau; remaining State Senators; remaining State Assembly Leadership Representatives; City Council members; Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Directors; WTC Memorial Foundation Directors; Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly; Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism, New York Police Department, Mr. Michael Sheehan; Deputy Chief, Counterterrorism, New York Police Department, Mr. John Colgan; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Empire State Development Corporation, Mr. Charles A. Gargano; President, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, Mr. Stefan Pryor; President and CEO, World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, Inc., Ms. Gretchen Dykstra; President and Chief Executive, Battery Park City Authority, Timothy S. Carey; Mr. Larry Silverstein; Mr. Lloyd C. Blankfein; Mr. Henry M. Paulson Jr.; remaining State Senators, Assembly Representatives and City Council members; U.S. Representatives, New York Congressional Delegation

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POLITICAL vs. IMPARTIAL  •   posted 10/14/05 7:07:PMJuly 5, 2005Ms. Monica IkenFounder and Chairman of the BoardSeptemberâ ™s Mission, c/o HAI548 Broadway, 3rd floorNY, NY 10012Dear Ms. Iken,We recently came across your organization and took note of its mission. The enclosed summary booklet may be helpful to your mission to honor suitably those who suffered and perished at the WTC site.Understanding the symbolic meaning and the national, historical significance of Governors Island â •representing a fundamental dynamic component in American liberty to all Americansâ •could help remove the currently contemplated

politicized or misplaced portions from the site to, perhaps, their proper place (see December 10, 2004, letter to the New York Times Editors).Broader and deeper understanding of the historic Governors Island event of 1624 and of what happened on 9/11/1609 as well as 9/11/2001 would certainly permit people to focus on the creation of an appropriately situated memorial that would complement a new office tower by simply separating that towerâ ™s commercial function from what now serves also as an erroneously named, potentially duplicative symbol on the wrong place (Freedom Tower).Our project was conceived well before 9/11 (see April 24, 2000, letter to President Clinton). And many pertinent politicians and power players have been intimately familiar with our project for many years whereunder Congressional Representatives Fossella, Sweeney and King, as well as various IFC Board Members such as Messrs. Tisch, Speyer, Millstein, Zucotti, Eisner, Chenault, Harrison, Kravis, Whitehead, Parsons and Rockefeller.Be that as it may, you can understand that eight years of silence in the face of the mobilization of an entire nation (the Netherlands), and many thousands of petitions and appeals for meetings with politicians and their officials, indicate the existence of a formidable protective wall around a fortress of powerful alliances which, possibly, even Septemberâ ™s Mission may not be able to penetrate. But, perhaps, the enclosed may help provide some useful analysis or ammunition.Sincerely,                                                                                    

Joep de Koning                        www.NationalHeritageTriangle.com         cc:   The Hon. Messrs. Fossella, Sweeney and King                         bcc: Ms. Barbara Walters; Mr. David Rockefeller; Mr. Thomas Renyi; Hon. Peter G. Peterson; Mr. Ira M. Millstein; Ms. Agnes Gund; Mr. Maurice R. Greenberg; Mr. Richard D. Parsons, Mr. Kenneth I. Chenault; Mr. William B. Harrison Jr.; Mr. Henry R. Kravis; Mr. Michael D. Eisner; Mr. Robert Wood Johnson IV; Ms. Anne M. Tatlock; Mr. Peter H. Lehrer; Dr. Josef Ackermann; Mr. E. John Rosenwald, Jr.; Ms. Judith Rodin; Mr. Vartan Gregorian; Ms. Anthoula Katsimatides; Ms. Paula Berry; Mr. Lee Ielpi; Ms. Debra Burlingame; Mr. Tom A. Bernstein; Ms. Emily Kernan Rafferty; Mr. Thomas H. Rogér; Mr. Jerry I. Speyer; Mr. Jonathan M. Tisch; Mr. Daniel R. Tishman; Mr. John E. Zuccotti; Mr. Russell L. Carson; Mr. Robert De Niro; Mr. Samuel A. DiPiazza, Jr.; Mr. Robert Kasdin; Ms. Emily Kernan; All LMDC Directors

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UNDERSTANDING AMERICAN LIBERTY  •   posted 9/10/05 11:05:PMNATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLEHistoric New AmsterdamLiving Museum-to-Tolerance on Governors IslandA historical museum-park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century NY, NJ and CTA place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of the Tri-State’s earliest architectural and material culture139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452September 11, 2005

The Dynamic Value of Religious, Ethnic and Racial Tolerancethe Lifeblood of American LibertyUnites Us in FreedomDear Governor Pataki (as well as all below mentioned addressees which have been individually addressed),Most of the below addressees have been given a copy of a booklet that was delivered to the Governors Island Preservation & Education Corporation on June 17, 2005. On today’s date of observance, September 11, that brochure carries special meaning as it relates to your understanding of what lies at the root of American liberty.On September 11, 2002 President George W. Bush said to the nation: “America strives to be tolerant and just. Ours is the cause of human dignity: freedom guided by conscience and guarded by peace�. On November 7, 2002, at a dinner with Muslims, the president said: “One of the deepest commitments of America is tolerance�. These are virtuous words which can be translated by you into deeds by helping to restore Governors Island to its historical integrity in order to preserve the island’s extraordinary meaning to American freedom for the benefit of future generations**.When translated into America’s experience, the island’s 1624 legacy to the nation will compose an island triad of fundamental American symbols in New York harbor whose whole is greater than the sum of the parts ― the National Heritage Triangle which is to serve as America’s omnipotent image for the defense of tolerance and liberty as the country’s mutually dependent virtues. Hence, the island’s property value is miniscule compared to its priceless, intangible, national value.Transforming commercial office space into a symbol ― as currently proposed in a “Freedom� Tower on the World Trade Center site ― raises the odds of future attack. THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE NUMBER OF POTENTIAL FATALITIES IS THUS AS INEVITABLE AS IT IS PREVENTABLE.Your greater understanding of the Governors Island patrimony, your willingness to embrace the island’s original core message of tolerance as the defining notion in American freedom together with political consideration of our April 24, 2000 proposal for a third-millennium monument to tolerance on the island, could help minimize the chance of a future attack on the World Trade Center site.The National Heritage Triangle, composed by the twenty-first century tribute to tolerance (it is the father of “successful� plurality as a prerequisite to liberty-for-all) in concert with the 50-acre tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam, would visualize the significance of religious, ethnic and racial tolerance on American freedom. The political decision, therefore, for our Governors Island initiative ― of national historical importance, boldness and long-term vision ― is one of ethical choice. As John Adams said; “We can’t guarantee success in this [war] but we can do something better. We can deserve it�.

Then, what exactly is planned for Governors Island that deserves the supersession of the island’s inheritance, America’s most magnificent natural symbol and our country’s heritage, or, that merits political denial of its deep, relevant meaning?Sincerely,Joep de Koningwww.NationalHeritageTriangle.comAddenda: “OVERVIEWâ€� and “FUTUREâ€�                                                            ** In 1661, New Amsterdam had a grammar school and two FREE elementary schools and had licensed 28 masters of school. “Nothing is of greater importance than the early instruction of youthâ€� (Peter Stuyvesant,

1660).                                                         NATIONAL: President of the United States of America, George W. Bush; Founder of Preserve America, First Lady Laura Bush; Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney; White House Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, Jr. and Deputy Chief of Staff, Senior Adviser, Karl Rove; Counsel to the President, Harriet Miers, Esq.; U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, Esq.; U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice; Ambassador and Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, Karen Hughes; Deputy Under Secretary of State for Education and Cultural Affairs, Dina Powell; Secretary of Transportation, Norman Mineta; Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton; Director, National Park Service Frances Mainella; Secretary, U.S. Department of HUD, Alphonso Jackson; U.S. Senators Charles Schumer, Hillary Clinton, Jon Corzine and Joe Lieberman; U.S. Representatives, NY Congressional DelegationNEW YORK POLITICIANS: Governor George Pataki; Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Secretary of State Randy Daniels; Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno; Assembly Majority Leader Paul Tokasz; Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver; City Council Speaker A. Gifford Miller; Senate Committee on Ethics Chair, George Winner, Jr.; Assembly Committee on Ethics Chair, Kevin Cahill; Senate Committee on Education Chair, Stephen Saland; Assembly Committee on Education Chair, Steven Sanders; Senate Committee on Tourism Chair, Mary Lou Rath; Assembly Committee on Tourism Chair, Joseph Morelle; Senate Committee on Finance Chair, Owen Johnson; Assembly Committee on Econ. Development Chair, Robin Schimminger; State Senator, Chair Minority Program Development, Liz Krueger; Assemblyman, Chair, Committee on Authorities, Richard L. Brodsky; State Comptroller, Alan G. Hevesi; City Comptroller, William C. Thompson Jr.; NYS Attorney General E. Spitzer; Manhattan District Attorney R. Morgenthau; remaining State Senators; remaining State Assembly Leadership and Rulers Committee Representatives; remaining Assembly Representatives; City Council members; Chair, Public Advocate’s Office, Betsy Gotbaumcc: LOWER MANHATTAN DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION DIRECTORS: Chairman John C. Whitehead; Mr. Roland W. Betts; Mr. Paul A. Crotty; Mr. Robert P. Balachandran, Mr. Robert M. Harding; Ms. Sally Hernandez-Pinero; Mr. Thomas S. Johnson; Mr. Edward Lewis: Mr. Edward J. Malloy; Mr. Stanley S. Shuman; Mr. Carl Weisbrod; Ms. Madelyn WilsWTC MEMORIAL FOUNDATION DIRECTORS: Ms. Patricia E. Harris; Ms. Monica Iken; Ms. Barbara Walters; Mr. David Rockefeller; Mr. Thomas Renyi; The Hon. Peter G. Peterson; Ira M. Millstein, Esquire; Ms. Agnes Gund; Mr. Maurice R. Greenberg; Mr. Richard D. Parsons, Mr. Kenneth I. Chenault; Mr. William B. Harrison Jr.; Mr. Henry R. Kravis; Mr. Michael D. Eisner; Mr. Robert Wood Johnson IV; Ms. Anne M. Tatlock; Mr. Peter H. Lehrer; Dr. Josef Ackermann; Mr. E. John Rosenwald, Jr.; Ms. Judith Rodin; Mr. Vartan Gregorian; Ms. Anthoula Katsimatides; Ms. Paula Berry; Mr. Lee Ielpi; Ms. Debra Burlingame; Mr. Tom A. Bernstein; Ms. Emily Kernan Rafferty; Mr. Thomas H. Rogér; Mr. Jerry I. Speyer; Mr. Jonathan M. Tisch; Mr. Daniel R. Tishman; Mr. John E. Zuccotti; Mr. Russell L. Carson; Mr. Robert De Niro; Mr. Samuel A. DiPiazza, Jr.; Mr. Robert Kasdin; Ms. Emily Kernan RaffertyOTHER: Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly; Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism, New York Police Department, Mr. Michael Sheehan; Deputy Chief, Counterterrorism, New York Police Department, Mr. John Colgan; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Empire State Development Corporation, Mr. Charles A. Gargano; President, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, Mr. Stefan Pryor; President and CEO, World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, Inc., Ms. Gretchen Dykstra; President and Chief Executive, Battery Park City Authority, Timothy S. Carey; Mr. Larry Silverstein; Mr. Lloyd C. Blankfein; Mr. Henry M. Paulson Jr.

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ADDENDUM 1 OVERVIEW  •   posted 9/10/05 11:07:PMOVERVIEW

Amsterda The French gift of the Statue of Liberty (inaugurated in 1886) transformed Bedloe Island to Liberty Island in 1956 to become an omnipresent, fundamental American symbol.Similarly, our proposed 50-acre canvas for the creation of a masterpiece of thematic and visual excellence―the tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam―will transform Governors Island, over time, to Tolerance Island.The envisaged canvas for profound creativity will explicitly acknowledge constructive pluralism-through-tolerance as an original, historic and indispensable notion in “Americanâ€� liberty since 1624―the year in which it took root on the very place where it was planted first on Governors Island. The 50 acres for the work of art―legislatively set aside for that purpose―will generate the third iconic island symbol as a quintessential, fundamental American symbol in New York harbor.Governors Island, the nation’s only natural, historic, primary symbol since 1624, precedes the later created island symbols (“Freedomâ€� by way of the Statue of Liberty and “Welcomeâ€� by way of the American Immigration Museum) in historical priority and national meaning. The three symbols happen to be ideal complements and are fully interdependent with respect to a more insightful understanding of what constitutes American freedom.Geographically perfectly aligned in a triangle, the island triad composes a new ubiquitous American icon: The National Heritage Triangle. 

The tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam―an education and history project for the benefit of future generations―will unleash Governors Island’s currently concealed historic symbolism for the nation. It will provide our children with an opportunity to understand the meaning of tolerance in American liberty and imbue them with a deeper appreciation of freedom in a pluralist society through broad awareness and vigilance.The envisaged park will therefore protect the nation’s often difficult tradition of tolerance and uphold America’s ultimate, active virtue to the world while preserving the national significance of Governors Island's historic symbolism as an enduring beacon to humanity.

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ADDENDUM 2 THE FUTURE  •   posted 9/10/05 11:10:PMTHE FUTURE:Looking forward, the protection and preservation of New York’s meaningful inheritance to the nation is, beyond doubt, the responsibility of the State and City Legislatures. They would have to set aside 50 acres (30% of Governors Island) for that specific purpose in the same way that Central Park and the Hudson River Park were so reserved. It would be their first-and-last-chance to honor New York’s national legacy for the benefit of our children.A Legislative decision supersedes any agency/private determination on the efficacy and conceptual merits of the not-for-profit Tolerance Park. To reserve legally the tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam for future generations, State and City politicians would need to;• understand and accept the meaning of New York’s legacy to America (Henry Hudson’s September 11, 1609 discovery as the basis for America’s republican, non-kingly, legal-cultural tradition);• acknowledge New York’s cultural inheritance of tolerance as the source of American pluralism as codified in the United States Constitution;• embrace New York’s priceless, thematic patrimony as the basis for the nation’s tradition of freedom and liberty;• reveal a concealed national monument―the nation’s only natural, historic symbol that represents a fundamental

American precept;• concede the existence of a potential human rights icon of immense visibility to the world;• make explicit the transformation of Governors Island to a national icon by sponsoring a bipartisan unibill which would grant legislative approval of a project of momentous national meaning on its place-of-origin in the year 1624 and having an inherent message of enormous 21st-century relevance and beneficence to future generations.Political approval only, whether provisional or for 99 years, would allow us to go forward with confidence.Political rejection, whether through silence, indifference, feigned ignorance or incompetence ensures the conscious obliteration of the Tri-State’s seventeenth-century legacy. It guarantees that New York’s unique repository of knowledge about its distinctive history will remain “lost� forever to its citizens.Such destruction of the national meaning of New York State’s birthplace is analogous to the cultural violation perpetrated by the Afghan Taliban in early 2001 when it eradicated the country’s ancient, giant Buddha statue. It would be no different than closing the eyes to the destruction of Jamestown Settlement for the benefit of a local highway project or a Congressional decision to eliminate the day of Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

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ADDENDUM 3 TOLERANCE DEFINITION  •   posted 9/11/05 12:52:PMOn September 11, 1609, Henry Hudson, Captain of the ship “Halve Maenâ€� [Half Moon], sailed into New York Harbor as the covert forerunner for the overt introduction of a republican, non-kingly, pluralist culture based on commerce and social mobility.That culture’s precepts of freedom and liberty, based on the “Right-of-Manâ€� doctrine and the dynamic notion of “Toleranceâ€�, became the foundation of the Original Thirteen and are New York’s cultural heritage to the nation.*The planting of that legal-cultural tradition took place on Governors Island in 1624—the birthplace of the New York Tri-State region and the origin of American tolerance.The horrific 9/11/2001 assault—an act of global intolerance—was perpetrated in the name of religion. Not acting upon recognized intolerance affirms that laxity, passivity and apathy are its friends.Tolerance—an active notion—demands. Always a two-way-street, not one-way accommodation, it defines and gives meaning to an otherwise undemanding, generic liberty.Only broad awareness and conscious vigilance of religious, ethnic and racial tolerance will help safeguard and sustain “Americanâ€� liberty because in an intolerant [disrespecting, discriminatory] society liberty-for-all is not possible.                            *http://www.tolerancepark.org

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ADDENDUM 4 ACCOMPLISHMENTS 1998-2005  •   posted 9/11/05 12:55:PMAccomplishments 1998-2005• In an effort to engage the City and State with respect to a timely joint decision on a new destination for the island, and in order to commence good faith negotiations regarding the proposed tolerance park’s design and execution, we conducted a national publicity and media campaign in The Netherlands over a period of two years. As a result, a deputation visited New York to meet with politicians and their appointees in the year 2000 to deliver a $100 million pledge on behalf of the people of The Netherlands ($10 million per year) until the scheduled opening of the park upon the 400th anniversary commemoration of Henry Hudson’s discovery in 2009.• Meanwhile, we observed that various State Legislative Committees had a “different interpretationâ€� of New York’s history. Hence, we had to seek sponsorship for the acknowledgment of New York’s cultural heritage as

well as the confirmation of some historical facts through a Legislative Resolution. At last, by May, 2002, we had found a sponsor which resulted in the adoption of Senate Resolution No. 5476 and Assembly Resolution No. 2708 that month. Those Resolutions recognize Governors Island as being the official birthplace of the State of New York in the year 1624 and the origin of North American tolerance.   â€¢ To ensure collaboration among the three U.S. stakeholders and to facilitate maximum cooperation for the proposed Education and History Project, we also reached out to the federal government as owner, its pertinent agencies, the White House and the various Cabinet members. Using the 1785 Land Act as legal precedent―allowing the donating of federal land to a state when used for educational purposes―our goal was to avoid the island’s public sale and to guarantee its availability for $1 to the State and City past the Congressional legal deadline of September 2001. On April 1, 2002, the White House dedicated the island to the theme of “educationâ€�. It enabled potential State and City acceptance of our Education and History Project and reduced the power and influence of various special constituents in the development process. That was also the reason why the Legislative Resolutions were approved. On that date, the State and City publicly announced the construction of a campus for the City University of New York.• Furthermore, in order to impart “intangible valueâ€� to the American people for their surrender of the island’s “economic valueâ€� to the State and the City, we appealed to the White House and the federal government to reserve the required acreage for their national history and symbol as a condition to the island’s jurisdictional transfer. Short of designating or preconditioning the acreage for our proposed use, 60-plus acres were set aside as “parkâ€� land prior to transfer on February 1, 2003, leaving it up to the State and the City to designate their specific use for our not-for-profit park. The fifty acres for the envisaged tolerance park, when so designated, would transform the island into the fundamental American symbol of tolerance thus composing the National Heritage Triangle comprising the primary symbols of tolerance, freedom and welcome.

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ADDENDUM 5 THE PAST  •   posted 9/11/05 12:57:PMTHE PAST:• On April 18, 2001, Mayor Giuliani, in a joint public presentation with Governor Pataki, stated definitively that “the city and state have an excellent plan for Governors Islandâ€�.   â€¢ On April 1, 2002, the Mayor and the Governor stated on television and in print that City University of New York (“CUNYâ€�) facilities would be consolidated on the island as a CUNY Campus.• In 2003, GIPEC issued Requests for Proposals (RFP’s) prior to making public appeals for “ideasâ€� on radio, in print and at public meetings.• In a July 2004 “publicâ€� meeting, not one reference was made to the island’s momentous, historical function in the nation’s history or its thematic legacy to “Americanâ€� freedom―this in spite of GIPEC’s awareness of the Legislative Resolutions and our seven year long explanatory, educational effort.• Then, in March 2005, Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff pronounced: “We are calling out to the world for one-of-a-kind-ideasâ€� while GIPEC hired a Chicago firm to “challenge individuals and organizations around the world for innovative ideasâ€� through a Request for Expressions of Interest (“RFEIâ€�).• GIPEC’s March 2005 invitation “to participate in bringing Governors Island to lifeâ€� may presumably lead to an RFP. Yet, in Part II, “General Conditions, Terms, Limitationsâ€�, there is nothing that will give a respondent any comfort, confidence or assurance that one’s effort, time and money will be earnestly considered going forward. How can it?• Namely, what is one to make of neither a City nor a State response to eight years of full-time work spanning two

continents and involving thousands of participants―a period wherein over 200,000 pages of letters and presentations have been distributed to the various political jurisdictions, agencies, their appointees and employees? A period wherein I personally have spent well over 25,000 hours of time in an effort to seek political dialogue, endorsements, sponsorship or just a simple earnest reply to our calls for substantive meetings?• Yet, in spite of this perplexing past, this summary presentation from us constitutes our response to GIPEC’s March 2005 RFEI with the observation that the RFEI has been specifically written for large scale, turnkey project developers. It excludes the type of process necessary for a not-for-profit development similar to a Plimoth Plantation, Jamestown Settlement, or Colonial Williamsburgtype project.• For eight years we have pursued a broad, proactive process of inclusion and transparency to advance a vision that requires collaboration, cooperation and ethical choice. Our one-of-a-kind-idea can’t succeed as long as (a) New York’s legacy is deliberately denied, (b) we can’t compete because of rules that favor others; and (c) we must play in a political process or structure which reveres exclusion and secrecy.

Eli Takesian What shall we do with Governors Island?  •   posted 10/18/05 11:37:PMI served the Coast Guard as a chaplain on Governors Island from 1975 to 1979. Here are some proposals.Use the island as a recreational park. A great place for outings and as a getaway from the madness of city life.1. St. Cornelius Chapel is a spiritual and architectural gem built in 1911 (?) by Trinity Church. It can be used for weddings. Next door is the Officers Club, which can used for wedding receptions and restaurant. Some of the historic mansions on Nolan Park, located near the Chapel, could be used as bed-and-breakfast facilities, although they might be expensive to operate. Definitey retain the old Governors Mansion (where Presdient Reagan and Mr. Gorbachov met). Use the Enlisted Dining Facility as a cafeteria. Use some of the vast open spaces as athletic fields. Tear the down the unsightly highrise building and some others. I'm not sure about the condition of the bowling alley and movie theater. Certainly keep the 9-hole golf course, a treasure in a city lacking golf courses.2. Expand the ferry system that operates between the Battery and Ellis Island/Liberty Island to include Governors Island.3. I have other ideas, but am not certain what I've shared will be read or acted upon.Eli Takesian ... elitak@comcast.net            

Eli Takesian Addition to what to do with Govenors Island  •   posted 10/19/05 8:18:AMAn addendum to what I wrote:Maintain the fort and other historic monuments on the island. Develop a museum in the vast building the Coast Guard used as a school to train its personnel, a museum that celebrates Native American, Dutch, English, Army and Coast Guard presence. Tons of history, including the island's use as a fortress, as a prison, as a place to temporarily quarantine ill immigrants who had arrived at Ellis Island ... how the island grew in proporation from soil dumped from Manhattan tunnel projects ... etc. Added incentive for people to visit.Governors Island is a historic monument. Make it a place for PEOPLE to rest, recreate and learn.Eli Takesian      

phunky technion

whatshould we do  •   posted 2/23/06 1:27:PMSome of the land should be use as a sold power plant to help with power in the summer for the main island

Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam

ERROR BY OMISSION, Public Meeting  •   posted 10/20/05 11:01:PMThe Hon. George E. PatakiGovernor, New York StateState CapitolAlbany, N.Y. 12224The Hon. Senator Joseph L. BrunoMajority LeaderNew York State Senate909 LOBAlbany, NY 12247The Hon. Sheldon SilverSpeaker, New York State AssemblyLOB 932Albany, NY 12248October 20, 2005The Dynamic Value of Religious, Ethnic and Racial Toleranceî ºthe Lifeblood of American Libertyî ºUnites Us in FreedomDear Governor Pataki, Majority Leader Bruno and Speaker Silver,At yesterday’s Governors Island “Public Hearingâ€�, October 19, eight years of work and historical research by many city and state appointees and employees had culminated into a prominent, public display with the heading “Highlights of the Island Historyâ€�. The subsequent sentence reads: “Before 1698: The Manahatas Indians used the island which they knew as Pagganck to hunt, fish and occasionally as a home.â€�THIS PARTICULAR STATEMENT, WITH WHICH WE CAN FIND NO FAULT, IS HOWEVER AN ERROR-OF-OMISSION WHICH IS AS SERIOUS A MISTAKE AS AN ERROR-OF-COMISSION.It does not cover Governors Island’s importance as the staging area for shipping operations from 1610 onward and past the construction of Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan Island in 1625 and the creation of a title deed to Manhattan in 1626.It disregards Governors Island as the place of first settlement in 1624 and as the legally acknowledged locus of New York State’s cultural history, the birthplace of New York State and the origin of American toleration. It was those colonists who had constructed on the island the region’s first fort and windmill and had planted North-America’s vital legal-cultural tradition of tolerance―codified in the settlers' first instructions**―which to this day is the foundation of American pluralism and defines American liberty as well as signifies New York State’s identity and image.By committing this omission, GIPEC may have justified the exclusion of the island’s national historic significance and its unique symbolism to the nation from the Public Hearing. That oversight therefore eliminates New York State’s thematic legacy to the country and eradicates the geographic, physical source of the State’s emblematic identity.A Symbolic Island or Tolerance Island―to be created by the proposed tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam―was conspicuously absent from the four options that were presented to the public; (1) an Iconic Island, (2) a Destination Island; (3) a Minimum Build Island; and (4) an Innovation Island―none of which have any meaning to the American nation or New York State. Neither are they in any way correlated to Governors Island’s immense historic worth in the formation

of the Original Thirteen and as the authentic, political-cultural spring that became the basis for the statement that “the United Colonies are, and of right ought to be Free and Independent States�. Those four options don’t exemplify, in any way, New York State’s distinct identity of historical and third-millennium relevance as embodied by Governors Island only.We did detect a minimal State presence at the Public Hearing. Does that foretell the disrespect for the State’s inheritance or the abdication of your interest or active involvement with respect to the proposed historic tolerance park for the island?We look forward to hearing from you.Sincerely,Joep de Koningwww.TolerancePark.org**Settlers had to attract, “through attitude and by example�, the natives and non-believers to God’s word “without, on the other hand, to persecute someone by reason of his religion and to leave everyone the freedom of his conscience.�

Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam

UNIBILL TO CORRECT FOR ERROR OF OMISSION  •   posted 10/27/05 9:46:PMTo each member of the New York State Senate and Assembly Leadership, Albany, N.Y.                                                                                                                October 26, 2005DearAt last week’s Governors Island “Public Hearingâ€� we observed that, out of seven presenters, NY State was represented only by Deputy Secretary of State Le Melle. Moreover, the four development options that were presented didn’t exemplify New York State’s distinct identity of historical and third-millennium relevance as embodied only by Governors Island.Does that foretell the disrespect for the State’s inheritance or the abdication of active legislative involvement and interest with respect to the proposed historic tolerance park for the island?Eight years of work and historical research by city and state appointees, employees and their consultants had culminated into a prominent, public display with the heading “Highlights of the Island Historyâ€�. The subsequent sentence read: “Before 1698: The Manahatas Indians used the island which they knew as Pagganck to hunt, fish and occasionally as a home.â€� It then proceeded to enumerate dates past 1698.THIS PARTICULAR STATEMENT, WITH WHICH WE CAN FIND NO FAULT, IS HOWEVER AN ERROR-OF-OMISSION WHICH IS AS SERIOUS A MISTAKE AS AN ERROR-OF-COMISSION.By committing this omission, GIPEC may have justified the exclusion of the island’s national historic significance and its unique symbolism to the nation from the Public Hearing. That oversight therefore eliminates New York State’s thematic legacy to the country and eradicates the geographic, physical source of the State’s emblematic identity.Furthermore, the statement does not cover Governors Island’s importance as the staging area for shipping operations from 1610 onward and past the construction of Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan Island in 1625 and the creation of a title deed to Manhattan in 1626.It disregards Governors Island as the place of first settlement in 1624 and as the legally acknowledged locus of New York State’s cultural history, the birthplace of New York State and the origin of American toleration. It was those colonists who had constructed on the island the region’s first fort and windmill and had planted North-America’s vital legal-cultural tradition of tolerance―codified in the settlers’ first instructions**―which to this day is the foundation of

American pluralism and defines American liberty as well as signifies New York State’s identity and image.A Symbolic Island or Tolerance Island―to be created by the proposed tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam―was conspicuously absent from the four options presented; (1) an Iconic Island, (2) a Destination Island; (3) a Minimum Build Island; and (4) an Innovation Island―none of which have any meaning to the American nation or New York State.Nor are they in any way correlated to Governors Island’s immense historic worth in the formation of the Original Thirteen and as the authentic, political-cultural wellspring that became the basis for the statement that “the United Colonies are, and of right ought to be Free and Independent Statesâ€�.We are asking you whether you would consider sponsoring a unibill that will reinforce the state’s historic uniqueness and open-minded spirit as personified in “Americanâ€� liberty on the place of its birth.Only a unibill will accomplish the restoration, conservation, protection and sustainment of the State’s cultural identity and thematic inheritance to America for New York’s perpetual economic and cultural wellbeing.We look forward to hearing from you.Yours truly,Joep de KoningPresident@TolerancePark.orgwww.NationalHeritageTriangle.com   ** Settlers had to attract, “through attitude and by exampleâ€�, the natives and non-believers to God’s word “without, on the other hand, to persecute someone by reason of his religion and to everyone the freedom of his conscience.â€�                                                     

Fndn for Historic New Amsterda

DISRESPECTING MOMENTOUS LEGACY  •   posted 12/1/05 5:55:PMDecember 1, 2005The Hon. George E. Pataki                         Governor, New York State                        State Capitol                         Albany, N.Y. 12224                        The Hon. Joseph L. BrunoSenate Majority Leader909 LOBAlbany, NY 12247The Hon. Sheldon SilverAssembly SpeakerLOB 932Albany, NY 12248The Hon. Michael Bloomberg Mayor, New York CityCity HallNew York, NY 10007        STRICTLY FOR PERSONAL ATTENTION AND REPLYDear Governor Pataki, Majority Leader Bruno, Speaker Silver and Mayor Bloomberg,Enclosed please find the creative vision statement of the masterpiece Historic New Amsterdam which accompanies the

concept statement of the 50-acre canvas on 172-acre large Governors Island.Since early 1998, our proposal to you had called for the restoration of the island’s historic legacy to the country―one of national symbolic and historical substance and signifying an invaluable human rights message to the world’s future generations.As you know, eight years of joint state/city resources and intense collaborative efforts of state/city corporations, agencies, commissions, committees, employees, political appointees and consultants had culminated in the public presentation of four development concepts for Governors Island by GIPEC (the island’s owner and a state agency) on October 19, 2005. None of those options were respectful of the island’s historic significance and meaningful symbolism (see letter on reverse).To date, the nature of your response to our communications, addressed to you since 1998, must mean that you have endorsed or are supportive of those four development options as being superior or somehow preferred to the island’s momentous national legacy. You have thus signaled that you are ready to proceed with at least one of GIPEC’s concepts.Therefore, it would now be appropriate and timely for us to receive an official yea or nay in view of our extremely large private investment in time, energy and money (i) to convey to you the national importance of the [Tri-] State’s identity as embodied in Governors Island and in our creative vision for it; (ii) to honor the State’s birthplace as the source of North American toleration and diversity** by seeking political recognition and building across-the-board consensus among the diverse political jurisdictions in Washington DC, Albany and New York City for eight years; and (iii) to solicit your reaction, endorsement and support for New York’s most significant patrimony of third-millennium relevance.Rather than continuing to signal us through silence, we are urgently inviting you to confirm to us personally that the proposed transformation of the island into a fundamental American symbol is inferior or subordinate to GIPEC’s development options.Your direct and timely reply―representing the courage of your conviction and likely confirming our postulation―will enable us to put the project behind us with a clear conscience and to close on eight years of public service as conducted by us at the highest possible ethical standard.We look forward to hearing from you and most preferably prior to the year 2006.Yours deservingly,

Joep de Koningwww.NationalHeritageTriangle.com

**Settlers had to attract, “through attitude and by exampleâ€�, the natives and non-believers to God’s word “ without, on the other hand, to persecute someone by reason of his religion and to leave everyone the freedom of his conscience.â€�cc:    NY State Senators; Assembly Leadership and Tourism and Education Committees; Deputy-Mayors; Corporation Counsel Michael A. Cardozo; City Council; NYS Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau; State/City Comptrollers Alan G. Hevesi and William C. Thompson; U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton; Congressional Representatives Carolyn B. Maloney, Jerrold Nadler, John E. Sweeney and Thomas M. Reynolds

Fndn for Historic New

CREATIVE VISION  •   posted 12/1/05 6:03:PMVISION STATEMENT of MASTERPIECE on 50-ACRE CANVAS

AmsterdaMost Netherlandic towns evolved from medieval times around a central market square which still form the core of many great cities like Amsterdam, Haarlem, Antwerp, Bruges, Utrecht, Ghent and Gouda. Typically, those squares comprise the town’s most important and meaningful contemporary structures such as a cathedral as cultural beacon of grandeur, a town hall, a weigh house or statuary from the 13th through 17th centuries.Today, those historical town centers often function as traffic-free oases and meeting points. They foster community and serve as magnets for socializing among diverse layers of residents and visitors alike.The perimeters of those early towns were protected by moats and walls (as in, for example, Wall Street in 1653) outside of which subsequent growth was accommodated. Those urban additions―radiating outward from the town’s historical core―often emerged in concentric circles of architectural styles unique to their period. That architectural chronology will be reversed in the 50-acre tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam.Namely, the view from the water will only be on authentic 17th-century Netherlandic facades. Walking from the shoreline towards the tolerance park’s core, one will arrive at an inviting, people-friendly market square surrounded by facades of 21st-century architectural uniqueness and cohesiveness and therefore reflective of harmony-in-difference―the ideal condition of the virtue of tolerance.The square will be built around a third millennium tolerance monument of global meaning, thematic substance and 21st-century visual greatness (like, for instance, a Santiago Calatrava structure or a giant version of Barnett Newman’s “Broken Obeliskâ€� as in the Museum of Modern Art.Accordingly, Historic New Amsterdam will link visually the 1624 historic planting of tolerance (that is, the father of American liberty and the basis of successful pluralism) on Governors Island with broad 21st-century awareness of that dynamic notion as being indispensable to religious, ethnic and racial liberty in contemporary American society.As in 1613―when the island became the region’s first crossroad of three cultures―Historic New Amsterdam, when opened in September 2009, will become the meeting point of the world’s cultures in order to dialogue intellectually on these issues of profound importance to future generations. 

Fndn for Historic New Amsterda

NATIONAL MONUMENT  •   posted 12/6/05 7:44:PMDecember 1, 2005The Hon Charles E. Schumer                United States Senate                Hart Senate Office Building 313        Washington, D.C. 20515        The Hon. Hillary R. ClintonUnited States SenateRussell Senate Building 476Washington, D.C. 20510-3201        The Dynamic Value of Religious, Ethnic and Racial Toleranceî ºthe Lifeblood of American Libertyî ºUnites Us in FreedomDear Senators Schumer and Clinton,You may remember various correspondences which we provided you over the years with regard to our proposed

tolerance park project on Governors Island. The idea was to seek your interest, advocacy and, perhaps, some help in the form of, for instance, a bill (with co-sponsors) that proposes Governors Island as a new national monument.Meanwhile, we noticed that Congressman Anthony Weiner had responded to GIPEC’s Request for Expressions of Interest. We don’t know the nature of his response but thought that you ought to be more familiar with the enclosed.Your greater understanding of the Governors Island patrimony, your willingness to embrace the island’s original core message of tolerance as the defining notion in American freedom**, together with political consideration of our April 24, 2000 proposal for a third-millennium monument to tolerance on the island, could help remove the unsuitable word “freedomâ€� from the WTC site. It could help facilitate the uncoupling of a simplistic political appellation/symbol from a commercial office tower and thus would minimize the potential for significant fatalities by reducing the probability of future attack on the World Trade Center site.Our proposed National Heritage Triangle, composed by Governors Island’s historic symbolism and comprising a twenty-first century tribute to tolerance (it is the father of “successfulâ€� pluralism as a prerequisite to liberty-for-all) in concert with the 50-acre tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam, would visualize the significance of religious, ethnic and racial tolerance on American freedom.The political decision, therefore, for our Governors Island initiative―of national historical importance, boldness and long-term vision―is one of ethical choice. As John Adams said; “We can’t guarantee success in this [war] but we can do something better. We can deserve itâ€�.If you are still able to be helpful and willing to support politically a creation of superior historical, cultural and artistic merit, we would certainly hope to hear from you.We look forward to hearing from you.Sincerely,Joep de KoningPresident@TolerancePark.org www.NationalHeritageTriangle.com**Settlers had to attract, “through attitude and by exampleâ€�, the natives and non-believers to God’s word “without, on the other hand, to persecute someone by reason of his religion and to leave everyone the freedom of his conscience.â€�cc: U.S. Congressman A. Weiner                                                      P.S. The October 19, 2005 public presentation by GIPEC of four concepts could not have been real. Then, what exactly is planned for Governors Island that deserves the deliberate supersession of the island’s inheritance, America’s most magnificent natural symbol and our country’s heritage, or, that merits political denial of its deep, relevant meaning?

Fndn for Historic New Amsterda

MARTIN LUTHER KING and BROKEN-OBELISK  •   posted 12/19/05 10:27:AMDecember 19, 2005The Hon. George E. Pataki                         Governor, New York State                        State Capitol                         Albany, N.Y. 12224                        The Hon. Joseph L. Bruno

Senate Majority Leader909 LOBAlbany, NY 12247The Hon. Sheldon SilverAssembly SpeakerLOB 932Albany, NY 12248The Hon. Michael Bloomberg Mayor, New York CityCity HallNew York, NY 10007      

The Dynamic Value of Religious, Ethnic and Racial Tolerancethe Lifeblood of American LibertyUnites Us in FreedomDear Governor Pataki, Majority Leader Bruno, Speaker Silver and Mayor Bloomberg,As a follow-up to our letter to you of December 1, 2005 , and while awaiting eagerly your answer prior to the start of the year 2006, we are enclosing an opus on Barnett Newman’s “BROKEN-OBELISK� which, as you probably know, HAD BEEN DEDICATED TO MARTIN LUTHER KING after his assassination.That sculpture, therefore, symbolizes naturally what we had envisaged as a possible third-millennium creation for the nation’s only natural, primary American symbol: Governors Island**.However, the potential use of “Broken-Obelisk� as the cultural centerpiece of grandeur in Historic New Amsterdam (see enclosed “Creative Vision Statement) does not exclude a new design for a 21st-century majestic monument-to-tolerance. The planned Broken-Obelisk, or its substitute symbolic icon, is fully compatible with the island’s symbolism of being the historic locus of cultural pluralism as the basis for American freedom as well as the island’s earlier function of being the “Crossroad of Three Cultures� in the year 1613 (see enclosed statement on Jan Rodrigues).

Having removed the International Freedom Center from the WTC site and now focusing solely on the completion of a memorial, only residual “freedomâ€� symbolism remains on the WTC site as in “Freedomâ€� Tower. Intellectually, though, neither the September 11, 2001, attack itself (like, for example, the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941) nor the initial political response had any relevance to the notion of freedom which is already well symbolized by the Statue of Liberty.   The true meaning of the three-pronged 9/11/01 attack rests in Governors Island’s intrinsic symbolism since 1624. An appropriate political response, then, would be to UNLEASH THAT SYMBOLISM FOR AMERICA’S FUTURE GENERATIONS THROUGH BROAD PUBLIC AWARENESS AND CONSCIOUS VIGILANCE by supporting the proposed tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam with its monumental third-millennium centerpiece.There would, hence, be no further need to use the word “freedomâ€� on the WTC site thereby enabling you to remove a pseudo symbol from a commercial office tower for the safety and comfort of its workers.We trust that you will consider earnestly this addendum to our December 1 letter in your response to us. Looking forward to hearing from you, I am.

Sincerely,Joep de Koningwww.NationalHeritageTriangle.com** In 1624, the settlers to Governors Island had to attract, “through attitude and by exampleâ€�, the natives and non-believers to God’s word “without, on the other hand, to persecute someone by reason of his religion and to leave everyone the freedom of his conscience.â€� It founded the legal-cultural foundation of pluralism in the NY Tri-State.cc:   Silverstein Properties Chair Larry Silverstein; The Related Companies Chair Stephen Ross; LMDC Chair John Whitehead; GIPEC Chair Daniel Doctoroff; Empire State Development Corporation Chair Charles Gargano; Deputy-Mayors; NY State Senators; Assembly Leadership and Assembly Tourism and Education Committees; City Council; Robert Charles Lesser & Company; Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects; Urban Strategies, Inc.

Fndn for Historic New Amsterda

MARTIN LUTHER KING'S I HAVE A DREAM...  •   posted 1/15/06 12:25:PMNATIONAL HERITAGE TRIANGLEHistoric New AmsterdamLiving Museum-to-Tolerance on Governors IslandA historic museum-park-to-tolerance on Governors Island recalling the birth and childhood of 17th century NY, NJ and CTA place of educational significance to the nation and a showcase of the Tri-State’s earliest architectural and material culture139 East 79th Street, 15th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10021, U.S.A.Telephone (212) 737-3216 Facsimile (212) 988-6452TO: State Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno                SENT: Via USPS to Albany LOBFACSIMILE: Transmitted to District office and Albany LOB         FROM: Mr. Joep de Koning        DATE: January 9, 2006TOTAL PAGES: 6The Dynamic Value of Religious, Ethnic and Racial Toleranceî ºthe Lifeblood of American Libertyî ºUnites Us in FreedomRE: “I HAVE A DREAMâ€�Dear State Senate Majority Leader Bruno,                                              

Please, find enclosed the “Creative Vision Statementâ€� of the masterpiece Historic New Amsterdam on Governors Island.   We have integrated our envisaged tolerance monument of third-millennium grandeur with the proposed historic tolerance park in order to shun needless delays when dealing with two political jurisdictions*. A suggested exemplar for the tolerance monument has already been dedicated appropriately to Martin Luther King (see “Ode to Barnett Newman’s Broken Obeliskâ€� by Stephen Polcari).

You probably know that the required acreage for the museum-park-to-tolerance has already been set aside by the federal government as a condition to transfer of the island’s jurisdiction to New York State on January 31, 2003 (see

“Accomplishments 1998-2005�).What remains to be done is for the State Legislature to dedicate those reserved 50 acres** to New York State’s unique cultural inheritance for its public restoration and sustainment into the 21st-century. Without your interest and action, many more years (and money) will go to naught (see “The Past, 1995-2005�).Would you consider co-sponsoring a bill to effectuate the powerful National Heritage Triangle***?We would much appreciate it if you, please, would inform us of your positive consideration as co-sponsor.Sincerely,Joep de KoningPresident@TolerancePark.orghttp://www.NationalHeritageTriangle.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_Island

*         I.e., the Interior Department/National Park Service and the New York State Legislature because the erection of the tolerance monument had originally been planned in 1998 on what is now the federal government’s 22-acre National Monument section of Governors Island.**         I.e., 30 percent of Governors Island or .00014 percent of the State’s landmass to honor New York State’s legacy on its very birthplace; a first-rate landmark because of the place it holds in the state’s memory and on account of it being the nation’s only natural historic symbol.***        The 50-acres History and Education Project, to be built on New York’s most historic canvas – Governors Island – will feature New York’s inimitable thematic legacy to the nation. It will transform the island into a national symbol and will compose a new ubiquitous icon of America’s primary values; the National Heritage Triangle.cc: Via fax and USPS to each individual New York State Senator, Assembly Representative and City Council Member; Governor George E. Pataki; Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; Deputy Mayors Kevin Sheekey and Edward Skyler; Mayoral Press Secretary Stu Loeser; New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer

            Fndn for Historic New Amsterda

PROCESS OF EXCLUSION  •   posted 1/20/06 11:12:AMJanuary 17, 2006Ms. Betty Chen        Vice President for Planning, Design, and PreservationGIPECBattery Maritime Building10 South Street, Slip 7New York, NY 10004                        The Dynamic Value of Religious, Ethnic and Racial Toleranceî ºthe Lifeblood of American Libertyî ºUnites Us in Freedom   Dear Ms. Chen,Thank you for notifying us about GIPEC’s Requests-for-Proposals (RFP’s) with a deadline of January 23, 2006.

As you know, we have taken the position, already advanced during the Giuliani administration, that our proposed tolerance park creation** can only be realized after the concept has been accepted legally by the state (see enclosed fax to Governor George Pataki of 1/11/06).Only then can we definitively muster the dedicated resources to execute the vision successfully. GIPEC’s RFP’s are not conducive to our envisaged project because GIPEC’s development process is geared toward satisfying differing, predetermined objectives. They are incompatible to the tolerance park requirements.We therefore can’t participate in your process. Our vision is one of national substance and thus supersedes form and process with respect to the island’s reutilization.We believe that only the New York State Legislature can restore and protect New York’s unique thematic cultural heritage in order to sustain it for future generations of Americans through broad awareness and conscious vigilance.We trust that the enclosed information may be illuminating and helpful in your understanding of the meaning of Governors Island to the nation ― it is its only natural historic primary symbol.If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us.Yours sincerely,

Joep de KoningPresident@TolerancePark.orghttp://www.NationalHeritageTriangle.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_Island** In 1624 and 1625, the settlers to Governors Island had to attract, “through attitude and by example�, the natives and non-believers to God’s word “without, on the other hand, to persecute someone by reason of his religion and to leave everyone the freedom of his conscience.� It founded the legal-cultural underpinning of pluralism in the NY Tri-State and was the basis for the statement that “Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion� as codified in 1791.cc: Interim President GIPEC, Paul Kelly; Chairman & CEO Empire State Development Corporation, Charles A. Gargano; Chairman Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, John C. Whitehead; Chairman NY City Economic Development Corporation, John S. Chalsty; President NY City Economic Development Corporation, Andrew M. Alper; Chairman Real Estate Board of NY, John Zuccotti; President Real Estate Board of NY, Steven Spinola; Deputy Mayor and Chairman GIPEC, Daniel Doctoroff; NY State Governor, George E. Pataki; NY City Mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg; NY State Senate Majority Leader, Joseph L. Bruno; NY State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver; NY City Council Speaker, Christine Quinn; New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer; Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau

* On September 11, 1609, the ship “Halve Maen� [Half Moon] of the [Dutch] East India Company sailed into New York Harbor as the covert forerunner for the overt introduction of a republican, non-kingly, pluralist culture based on commerce and social mobility. That culture’s precepts of freedom and liberty, based on the “Right-of-Man� doctrine and the dynamic notion of “Tolerance�(1), became the foundation of the Original Thirteen and are New York’s cultural heritage to the nation. The planting of that legal-cultural tradition took place on Governors Island in 1624 – the birthplace of the New York Tri-State region and the origin of American tolerance. The horrific 9/11/2001 assault - an act of global intolerance - was perpetrated in the name of religion. Not acting upon recognized intolerance affirms that laxity, passivity and apathy are its friends. Tolerance – an active notion – demands. Always a two-way-

street, not one-way accommodation, it defines and gives meaning to an otherwise undemanding, generic liberty. Only broad awareness and conscious vigilance of religious, ethnic and racial tolerance as inseparable from liberty will help safeguard and sustain “American� freedom because in an intolerant [disrespecting, discriminatory] society freedom-for-all is not possible. (1) www.NationalHeritageTriangle.com

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LEGISLATIVE ACCEPTANCE OF SUBSTANCE OVER FORM AND  •   posted 1/31/06 8:57:AMJanuary 31, 2006Via E-mail to all legislators individually

Dear Legislator,We urge you to return the form which would show only your support as co-sponsor for a possible unibill. Namely:The value of the message of tolerance as EQUAL PARTNER of American liberty (hence Broken-Obelisk’s EQUAL HEIGHT of the Statue of Liberty) should, since 9/11/2001, be quite easily understood, gracefully acknowledged and readily accepted by all STATE politicians.The State Legislature's interest in restoring, protecting and sustaining its historic legacy to the nation* is essential in the execution of the concept which, after all, is deeply rooted in New York’s seventeenth-century and cultural history.Your pro-active interest is instrumental in helping realize this historic park of third-millennium relevance with its intrinsic human rights message on the place of its birth and for the good of the nation - if not of the world.From the electronically attached letter to GIPEC, dated January 17, 2006, you can see that form and process is leading the call for Requests for Proposals (as it did in 2003). If you were to allow bureaucratic process to supersede substance and dictate the island's re-utilization, then, New York State will lose mightily.We look forward to receiving the signed form from you or your thoughtful answer on why specifically you are unable to consider serving as co-sponsor.Sincerely,Joep de KoningPresident@TolerancePark.orgwww.NationalHeritageTriangle.com 139 East 79th Street, 15th floorNew York, NY 10021http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_Island

   * In 1624 and 1625, the settlers to Governors Island had to attract, “through attitude and by exampleâ€�, the natives and non-believers to God’s word “without, on the other hand, to persecute someone by reason of his religion and to leave everyone the freedom of his conscience.â€� It founded the legal-cultural underpinning of pluralism in the NY Tri-State and was the basis for the statement that “Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religionâ€� as codified in 1791.

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VISIONARY IDEAS GOVERNORS ISLAND  •   posted 2/16/06 12:05:PMIn response to a February 15, 2006 Press Release in which Governor George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for "visionary ideas to redevelop and preserve" Governors Island, we sent an e-mail to the Governors Office:February 15, 2006To: http://161.11.3.75/govemail

Dear Governor Pataki,We read today's press release and wonder WHY you haven't responded once to our eight years of requests for dialogue and full time work involving thousands of people on both sides of the ocean and pertaining to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_Island   Why do you continue denying the island's legacy to the nation and rejecting New York's unique history and profound contribution to American liberty?We have asked you for years to come forward with at least a YES or NO with regard to the Historic New Amsterdam project. Silence is all we receive from you. WHY?It is scandalous to not receive or acknowledge visitors from the nation that founded the State of New York and who went through the effort to gather and deliver to you a $100 million pledge in order to start a dialogue about the tolerance park project, scheduled to open officially on September 11, 2009. Yet, there were no recipients for the pledge. How else can that be explained than being the ultimate act of stonewalling?What exactly, then, is on your mind with regard to the island given that eight years and many tens of millions of dollars on state and city overhead costs have culminated in today's nebulous Press Release which pretends to know nothing of our proposal? We have read many previous press releases on the subject, filled with hollow, insincere words. Why do we need to believe this one?Can we possibly get an explanation from you what this is all about as, really, NO well-respecting, serious person or organization is going to answer this new RFP (Request for Proposal by GIPEC), the successor of previous ones, because after eight years it has become transparent that well-connected third parties may have already been pre-selected to perform their services with regard to what must be a preconceived, under the radar plan for the island.If we can get an honest answer to this e-mail we would be delighted to hear from you.Sincerely,Joep de Koninghttp://www.NationalHeritageTriangle.comcc: Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver

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LETTERS@NYTIMES.COM  •   posted 2/18/06 12:05:PMLetter to the Editor: Re: Governors Island Gondola by Jim Rutenberg, February 16, 2006.A tramway, even one designed by a celebrity architect, is no panacea for the lack of thoughtful, impartial or bi-partisan political leadership with regard to Governors Island.We saw that with Liebeskind’s commission to politically transform an office tower for commercial tenants to a symbol of repetitive if not dubious patriotic value thus propagating a politically fashionable message as hollow as its open steel skeleton which lifted its height to 1776 feet.Similarly, to say that a tramway would serve as an inspiration is politico speak and has no substance. Neither Roosevelt Island nor Randalls Island was inspirationally transformed by infrastructure links to Manhattan. In fact, the island that was transformed inspirationally, without a physical link, was Bedloe Island which became Liberty Island in 1956 with well over 4 million visitors per year.Mr. Rutenberg's political advocacy was based on an insincere Executive Chamber Press Release titled “Call for Visionary Ideas for the Redevelopment of Governors Islandâ€�. 

We know that there are plenty visionary proposals; no tramway needed. But what oil is for Saudi Arabia is real estate for

New York so that politically unconnected parties have not been welcomed for eight years. No well-respecting outsider organization or person is going to come forward to answer GIPEC’s exclusionary RFP’s implicitly giving carte blanche to its immediate constituents.Sincerely,Joep de KoningPresident@TolerancePark.orghttp://www.nationalheritagetriangle.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_Island 

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LETTERS@NYTIMES.COM  •   posted 2/25/06 12:50:PMLetter to the Editor: Re: “New York Wonders: An Island Fit for What?â€� by Nicolai Ouroussoff, New York Times, February 23, 2006.Mr. Ouroussoff writes that “the system can foster a poisonous mix of political self-interest and commercial greedâ€�. This mix though is New York’s sole, archetypal formula as evidenced by the development that corrupted Roosevelt Island. His observation that “government officials risk quashing creativity at the outsetâ€� because “handing over public land to private interests favor conventional design solutionsâ€� is therefore an understatement.

Thirty thousand hours of personal time alone was spent on trying to get one earnest response from the state or city with regard to our visionary education and history project for Governors Island. The responsible development’s inspiring theme incorporates the values and history which are so important to us and our city. 

It would protect the island’s historical integrity, preserve its historic message of national import for future generations and compose an island triad of three fundamental American symbols each with its own unique facet of history. 

Last week’s “Call for Visionary Ideas for the Redevelopment of Governors Island� must thus be viewed as insincere because, simply, what oil and absolute power is for Saudi Arabia is real estate and one-man rule for New York State. The truth is that politically unconnected parties have not been welcomed for eight years in spite of a $100 million pledge that backed our proposal.

Ethical choice through considerate, impartial and altruistic political leadership is not New York’s forte. Therefore, no sophisticated, well-respecting outsider organization will come forward to answer to a state agency redoubt giving implicit carte blanche to its immediate constituents.Sincerely,Joep de KoningPresident@TolerancePark.org 

http://www.nationalheritagetriangle.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_Island139 East 79th Street,New York, NY 10021

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SUBSTANCE over FORM and PROCESS  •   posted 3/20/06 7:00:PMSubstance over Form and Process with regard to Governors IslandMarch 15, 2006Dear Senate Majority Leader Bruno,Do you agree with what we wrote to the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC) on January 17, 2006?“Our vision is one of national substance and thus supersedes form and process with respect to the island’s reutilization. We believe that only the New York State Legislature can restore and protect New York’s unique thematic cultural heritage in order to sustain it for future generations of Americans through broad awareness and conscious vigilanceâ€�.During the last four years, GIPEC has sent out Requests for Proposals (RFP’s) repeatedly. Its latest RFP solicitation had a deadline of late 2005, then January 23, 2006 and now May 10, 2006.   Do you really think it to be plausible that there may be one qualified outsider still willing to come forward after eight years of state/city solicitations for “interested partiesâ€�? Do you believe it to be reasonable for any outside interested party to give the GIPEC’s process any credibility by putting in its time and spending its earnest money?For this reason we believe that you can’t be neutral with regard to the conscious eradication of the state’s heritage. You must understand that it is not good enough for us to be forced to work with only agencies, their employees and political appointees and their prescribed process which has been proven to be either faulty or a red herring, or both.Legislators are there to care about the state’s most momentous landmark, a national historic symbol of profound meaning, and to make sure that the short-term self-interest of individuals will be subordinate to the state’s long term public interest. Transforming that narrow egotism to broad altruism is the duty of the bipartisan democratic legislative process. It is the only objective test to determine the efficacy of the envisaged National Heritage Triangle.Five years ago, on May 4, 2001, we wrote to Senator John DeFrancisco, Chair of the State Senate Tourism Committee with copies to Governor Pataki, Mayor Giuliani and Speaker Silver:“Being non-affiliated and performing a public service, the Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam (HNA) is a non-political entity. Excluded from the previous Governors Island Task Forces and the Governors Island Advisory Council and unable in having any dialogue therewith, the foundation can only present the efficacy of its arm’s length concept proposal to the politicians. Acceptance or execution of HNA, therefore, is only possible when the diverse political jurisdictions are willing to act in their several, joint and shared long-term interests.â€�Not much has changed since that letter in spite of another 13,000 hours having been spent by me alone, and many more hours by others, to receive the political support required to preserve the state’s legacy.Can you give us any advice that will make sense of why eight years of work cannot be acknowledged by the state legislature? Aren’t senators and representatives the ones who are indispensable in generating the political resources to make it happen? And, if you agree with what we wrote, would you be willing to act and to [co]sponsor the required bill in order to protect the island’s historic substance of proven 21st-century relevance?Sincerely,Joep de Koningwww.NationalHeritageTriangle.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_Island cc:    All state legislators, Governor George Pataki, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn

bcc: New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer; U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Hillary R. ClintonFndn for Historic Ne

APPEAL to HELP TRANSFORM to SYMBOL  •   posted 3/20/06 7:11:PMMarch 20, 2006Mr. Mallory FactorVice Chairman, GIPEC177 East 71st StreetNew York, NY 10021The Dynamic Value of Religious, Ethnic and Racial Toleranceî ºthe Lifeblood of American Libertyî ºUnites Us in FreedomDear Mr. Factor,In your function as GIPEC’s Vice Chairman you may be interested in some background material with regard to the national symbolic significance and profound historic meaning of Governors Island. Your understanding of the island’s legacy could help with the political advancement and legislative dedication of 50 acres―already reserved by the federal government for our envisaged education and history project―to a tolerance park, Historic New Amsterdam, to be situated on the island's southern tip.The park’s centerpiece is to be a Tolerance Monument imagined to be an implicit tribute to Martin Luther King and therefore of great national and thematic value. It is to be exemplified by a 305-feet high version of Barnett Newman's sculpture Broken Obelisk, already dedicated by him to Martin Luther King and now in the Museum of Modern Art. The rationale for this symbol to hope being of equal height as the Statue of Liberty is because tolerance and liberty are equal partners of American freedom*.Your consideration and active interest could help facilitate the restoration of Government Island to its historical integrity with a distinctive message of national substance**. It could help transform Government Island to a fundamental American symbol that would lead the complementary island symbols of Liberty and Ellis Islands in New York harbor thus composing the National Heritage Triangle.If you have any further thoughts on the enclosed or would like to discuss this further, please advise.

Sincerely,                                                                                    Joep de KoningPresident@TolerancePark.org        www.NationalHeritageTriangle.com   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_Island** In 1624 and 1625, the settlers to Governors Island had to attract, “through attitude and by exampleâ€�, the natives and non-believers to God’s word “without, on the other hand, to persecute someone by reason of his religion and to leave everyone the freedom of his conscience.â€� It founded the legal-cultural underpinning of pluralism in the NY Tri-State and was the basis for the statement that “Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religionâ€� as codified in 1791.* On September 11, 1609, the ship “Halve Maenâ€� [Half Moon] of the [Dutch] East India Company sailed into New York Harbor as the covert forerunner for the overt introduction of a republican, non-kingly, pluralist culture based on commerce and social mobility. That culture’s precepts of freedom and liberty, based on the “Right-of-Manâ€�

doctrine and the dynamic notion of “Tolerance�(1), became the foundation of the Original Thirteen and are New York’s cultural heritage to the nation. The planting of that legal-cultural tradition took place on Governors Island in 1624 – the birthplace of the New York Tri-State region and the origin of American tolerance. The horrific 9/11/2001 assault - an act of global intolerance - was perpetrated in the name of religion. Not acting upon recognized intolerance affirms that laxity, passivity and apathy are its friends. Tolerance – an active notion – demands. Always a two-way-street, not one-way accommodation, it defines and gives meaning to an otherwise undemanding, generic liberty. Only broad awareness and conscious vigilance of religious, ethnic and racial tolerance as inseparable from liberty will help safeguard and sustain “American� freedom because in an intolerant [disrespecting, discriminatory] society freedom-for-all is not possible. (1) www.NationalHeritageTriangle.com

pacholewka Dutch Village  •   posted 2/16/06 2:26:PMI was born and raised in Bronx. Even though there is a manor (Van Cordtlandt manor) or two commemorating the Dutch in New York city, there is no settlement depicting early Dutch life. I propose building a Dutch village restoration including streams with windmills (showing a working mill and how grains are milled), Dutch-style houses and farms, street grids, marketes, etc. on the scale of Williamsburg, VA. In good weather, foods and vegetables could be sold along with delft tiles. In Winter, skating on a pond could occur.It would be a "unique" tourist draw and could add to the cultural and historical learning of school children. There could even be a model of the ship, Half Moon. I think this could be a very interesting, informative, and as I said before, "unique" addition to the other attractions in NYC!

Fndn for Historic New Amsterda

DEFENDING NY'S INHERITANCE  •   posted 3/22/06 9:09:PMSubject:        Defending New York’s InheritanceDate:        3/22/2006 9:09:34 AM Pacific Standard TimeFrom:        TolerancePark

Dear Speaker Silver,New York’s legal-political convention of tolerance as the underpinning of cultural diversity and successful pluralism started in 1624 on Governors Island (see http://tolerancepark.org/_wsn/page2.html).The national significance of the island lies in the fact that this fundamental precept meant the onset of the most pluralistic, most powerful nation of this world based on the implicit principle of individual freedom that, inarguably, can only be defined by the notions of tolerance and liberty as equal partners.Governors Island’s legacy is immensely pertinent to the future of our diverse nation as its dynamic principle of tolerance defines “AMERICANâ€� freedom therefore distinguishing it from “STATICâ€� or “GENERICâ€� freedom.Like Liberty Island, the national symbolic value of Governors Island is priceless and of great tourism value to New York.The choice is either a meaningless real estate development or a meaningful national symbol embodying New York’s identity since 1624. The latter can only be ensured through your active interest and a legislative decision.Will you be interested in defending New York’s inheritance?Sincerely,Joep de KoningPresident@TolerancePark.org www.NationalHeritageTriangle.comcc: All State and City Legislators

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IMMIGRATION  •   posted 4/14/06 11:01:PMApril 11, 2006Hardcopy sent to various crucial city and state politicians; via e-mail to ALL city and state legislatorsDear xxxThe current immigration debate is of national importance in that it pertains directly to Governors Island’s legacy with its inherent, quintessential New York message.Your deeper understanding of that message, so embodied by the island, may help in receiving city, state and national political recognition for New York’s historic contribution to the nation. You may appreciate the statement below which puts the immigration debate in its historical and cultural context.

Sincerely,

Joep de KoningPresident@TolerancePark.org

GOVERNORS ISLAND'S LEGACYIMMIGRATION, LIBERTY and TOLERANCE REVERSEDThe current debate about immigration is an old one and, for the United States, it goes back directly, yes, via seventeenth-century New York to the Dutch Republic!There, in 1645, the Antwerper Willem Usselincx, spiritual founder of the Dutch West India Company, proclaimed that “it is because of foreigners that the country will be peopled, because its might is derived mostly from those who come from abroad and settle, marry and multiply here. If one were to remove the foreigners, their children and grandchildren, from the large cities of Holland, the left over population would be the lesser.�The attitude reflected in his statement provided the basis for the cultural tolerance that encouraged ethnic diversity in the Dutch Republic and in New Amsterdam before it became New York.Therefore, it should be no surprise that America’s fundamental values are;IMMIGRATION (embodied by the Ellis Island symbol of "Welcome" as portrayed by the American Immigration Museum), because it is a function of liberty;LIBERTY (embodied by the island symbol of “Liberty� signified by its statue), because it is a function of tolerance (is liberty possible in an intolerant society?); andTOLERANCE, (embodied by Governors Island as the LEADING, natural, historic symbol), because it precedes liberty while also being its partner in defining “American� freedom.By combining these three symbols in one iconic whole, we have created a National Heritage Triangle of primary values where each island exemplifies its own unique facet of American history.New York’s legal and political tradition of tolerance, the basis for its characteristic cultural diversity and pluralism, had its beginnings on Governors Island. Yet, the island’s legacy goes unrecognized politically.Planted there by the New York Tri-State region’s first settlers in 1624, it was upheld in the conditional Articles of Transfer by which the Dutch in 1664 ceded power provisionally to the English. Thus safeguarded, the notion of tolerance endured after the conclusive jurisdictional establishment of English dominion over New Netherland in 1674, and through the formation of the United States of America, when it was reintroduced as a constitutional right under the Bill of Rights in

1791.A two-way street, tolerance demands reciprocal respect rather than unilateral accommodation. As America’s ultimate virtue, together with liberty it serves to define the juridical and cultural construct to which Americans refer as freedom. Indeed, it is central to the contemporary Western conception of freedom. Its origins in the Western Hemisphere as a legal and political imperative are to be traced to the year 1624, in what is now New York.The instructions given to the Governors Island settlers in 1624, that “through attitude and by exampleâ€�, they had to attract the natives and non-believers to God’s word “without, on the other hand, to persecute someone by reason of his religion and to leave everyone the freedom of his conscienceâ€� derived from the founding document of the Dutch Republic, the 1579 Union of Utrecht. It stated “that everyone shall remain free in religion and that no one may be persecuted or investigated because of religionâ€�.That statement, unique in the world at the time, became the historic foundation for the opening of the first synagogue in the Western Hemisphere at Recife in Dutch Brazil in 1642 as well as the "official" granting of full residency for both Ashkenazim and Sephardim at New Amsterdam in 1655.Embedded in Governors Island—New York State’s legally recognized, historic birthplace—tolerance is an essential part of New York’s cultural patrimony and its unique contribution to American culture. Without doubt, it is the very underpinning for successful immigration.The introduction, in 1624, of that basic human value gave rise to the most diverse city in the world and the nation’s largest municipality—itself a legal concept introduced, in 1653, in New Amsterdam.Its significance to the nation lies in the fact that the 1624 landing laid the foundation of what would become the world’s most pluralistic and powerful state based on the implicit principle of personal freedom; which, inarguably, is defined in terms of the twin concepts of tolerance and liberty.One’s understanding of New York’s legacy is therefore of immense importance to the future of our diverse nation, as it is the dynamic precept of tolerance that distinguishes the specifically American notion of freedom from the “genericâ€� or “static.â€�May the politicians who are writing the immigration laws understand the power of Willem Usselincx’s statement in 1645. His words were reflective of a legal-cultural tradition which became the very foundation of this nation. New York's legacy originated on Governors Island in 1624.Historic New AmsterdamA Tolerance Park on Governors IslandComposing the National Heritage Triangle of America’s Fundamental Valueswww.NationalHeritageTriangle.com Foundation for Historic New AmsterdamJoep de KoningPresident@TolerancePark.org 139 East 79th Street, Apt. 15New York, NY 10021Tel: (212) 737 3216http://tolerancepark.org/_wsn/page2.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_Island

Warrior18 New Netherland Music  •   posted 4/14/06 5:04:PM   I want to go way back to the begining. I want to go as far back as the first Dutch settlement on what was then known as "Mannahatin." I have devoted much time to studying the lost culture of the Dutch influence on New York, something that has been all but snuffed out of history, though the Dutch had probably the greatest influence on the Hudson Valley. I have segregated and delved into the depths of many cultural aspects of New Netherland culture, but there is one realm that continues to haunt me with no results. I had been currious to know what sort of music was performed, listened to, and bottom-of-the-line existed in New Netherland under Dutch rule, espescially in the early segment of rule from the 1620's-1650's. Perhaps there is someone who would relieve me of this mind graping plague of thought.

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COURTESY of CIVILIZED RESPONSE  •   posted 5/11/06 8:51:PMStatement in lieu of reply to GIPEC Request for Proposals (“RFPâ€�), May 10, 2006Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff, Chairman, GIPECMr. Mallory Factor, Vice Chairman, GIPECMs. Leslie Koch, President, GIPECBattery Maritime Building10 South Street, Slip 7New York, NY 10004The Dynamic Value of Religious, Ethnic and Racial Toleranceî ºthe Lifeblood of American Libertyî ºUnites Us in FreedomDear Chairman Doctoroff, Vice Chairman Factor and President Koch,Please find enclosed a “Summary Statementâ€� in lieu of a reply to GIPEC’s “Request For Proposalsâ€� (“RFPâ€�) due today.GIPEC’s RFP contains phrases such as “solicit and select exceptional development proposals from highly motivated and qualified individuals, teams, corporations, and/or organizations…â€� being able to “appreciate the uniqueness and importance of Governors Islandâ€� and having “the vision to connect the island to the broader New York community.â€�These are beautiful words. However, GIPECâ€�s website doesn’t even mention the “uniqueness and importance of Governors Islandâ€�. Nor does the website of the National Park Service mention anything about Governors Island’s true historic, national significance in spite of many years of effort by us to get it to do so.   Over the years, though, we have received many proper replies from members of the White House Cabinet including a personal note from President Bill Clinton encouraging us to continue to “contact the appropriate state and city officialsâ€�. Furthermore, as federal property, the Governors Island issue had been put on the White House agenda by National Security Advisor Sandy Berger for discussion between Dutch Prime Minister Kok and President Clinton on September 28, 2000.Such treatment from Washington is more than we can say we have received in nine years from anyone we have approached in city or state government going all the way back to the Giuliani Administration (see, for instance, the letters to Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and his Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, Randy Levine, or Senior Policy Advisor to the Governor, John Cahill).Must we therefore infer that our proposal never lived up to the city or state (i.e., GIPEC) standard for an “exceptional developmentâ€� and that our vision would disconnect the island from the broader New York community? Did nine years of altruistic effort not meet the criterion of being “highly motivatedâ€� or is it that anyone born in or being from the Netherlands―which founded New York State and New York City and is the reason for your existence here―isn’t

worthy of a response or qualified to make a bona fide pledge of financial or creative support? Why then the nine years of silence?If other respondents or interested parties have received similar treatment over the years, we can guarantee you that the city and state must have chased away at least 99 percent of all those highly qualified parties who could have been potentially interested. That includes Tivoli Gardens whose proposal in 1999 was liked best by Senator Patrick Moynihan.No “call to the world for ideas�, as made in 2005, will change that. The RFP due today, May 10, 2006, must therefore be viewed as a method for choosing those who have been selected long ago with regard to an “exceptional development�. Our only hope is that such a development will allow for inclusion of our proposal by GIPEC’s chosen “Respondent Team� in the way we tried to partner with the promised CUNY ISLAND campus in 2002. (see letter to Vice Chair Benno Schmidt and Trustees).The only comfort we can take in this process is the fact that the Statue of Liberty was rejected over and over by New York for unfounded reasons too. Hence, it was inaugurated in 1886 rather than in the United States’s centennial year of 1876. Must we also wait until 10 years past the 2009 quadricentennial of the Half Moon ship’s arrival in New York harbor (see letter to Barbara Fratianni)?To date, the city and state have spent tens of millions of dollars on inside and outside resources on “plans� for the island without giving us the courtesy of ONE civilized response or a simple nay or yea. Our question remains: WHY?Sincerely,Joep de KoningPresident@TolerancePark.orgwww.NationalHeritageTriangle.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_Islandcc: cc: George E. Pataki, Governor, New York State; Joseph L. Bruno, Majority Leader, NY State Senate; Sheldon Silver, Speaker, New York State Assembly; Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York; Christine Quinn, Speaker, New York City Council; Eliot Spitzer, New York State Attorney General; Robert M. Morgenthau, Manhattan District Attorney; Alan G. Hevesi, NY State Comptroller; William C. Thompson Jr., NY City Comptroller; Owen Johnson, Chair, Senate Finance Committee; Stephen Saland, Chair, Senate Education Committee; Mary Lou Rath, Chair, Senate Committee on Tourism; George Winner, Jr., Chair, Senate Committee on Ethics; Kevin A. Cahill, Chair, Assembly Committee on Ethics; Catherine Nolan, Chair, Assembly Education Committee; Joseph D. Morelle, Chair, Assembly Committee on Tourism; Hillary Rodham Clinton, United States Senator; Charles E. Schumer, United States Senator

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IRONY in LEGISLATURE to DENY NY LEGACY and EDUCATI  •   posted 5/11/06 9:01:PMApril 1, 2006To: Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Senate Minority Leader David Paterson, Assembly Committee on Education Chair Catherine Nolan, Assembly Committee on Tourism Chair Joseph Morelle, Assembly Representative Adriano Espaillat, Assembly Representative John McEneny, Assembly Representative Deborah Glick, Assembly Representative Joan K. Christensen, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton, Congressman Maurice D. Hinchey, Congressman Charles B. RangelThe Dynamic Value of Religious, Ethnic and Racial Toleranceî ºthe Lifeblood of American Libertyî ºUnites Us in FreedomDear Legislators,Please, carefully note the following:(1) Today, April 1, 2006, it has been four years ago that Governors Island was dedicated by the White House to the theme

of education (i.e., on April 1, 2002). On August 20, 2001, we asked President George W. Bush to do so in order to enable our Education and History Project to go forward (see legal precedent letter on reverse);(2) The historic 1785 Land Act precedent of an education dedication effectively overrode a Congressional law. That Congressional law called for the public auction of the island after September 30, 2001. The legal precedent enabled New York State to receive jurisdiction over the island for one dollar past the legal deadline;(3) Sixteen months after the cut-off-date of September 30, 2001, namely February 1, 2003, New York State received the island for one dollar with the proviso that 60 acres would be set aside for park land of which at least 40 must be contiguous.This education dedication and acreage set-aside didn’t happen automatically. From 1999 through January 2003, we had asked the House Committee on Resources, the OMB, the General Services Administration, the Interior Department, the National Park Service, the Departments of Justice, Education, Transportation, Commerce, Treasury, State, HUD, and every member of the White House Cabinet as well as the President of the United States to set aside 30% of Governors Island (50 acres) for the tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam (see, e.g., enclosed June 19, 2002, letter to President Bush). Doing so was to accomplish the National Heritage Triangle of America’s basic values.In view of the above, with everything now in place to realize the National Heritage Triangle and the tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam, wouldn’t it be the greatest irony of all if the State Legislature were to deny New York State’s inheritance and Governors Island’s Legacy** (see enclosed). Or would it just be unreasonable and irrational?Sincerely,Joep de KoningPresident@TolerancePark.org        www.NationalHeritageTriangle.com   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_Islandcc: Assembly Majority Leader Paul Tokasz, Assembly Representative Richard Brodsky, Senator Liz Krueger, City Borough Presidents, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, Manhattan D.A. Robert Morgenthau, City Comptroller William Thompson Jr.bcc: Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Mr. Thomas B. Golisano, Mr. Robert L. Johnson, Mr. E. Stanley O'Neal, Mr. Kenneth I. Chenault, Mr. Richard D. Parsons, GIPEC Chairman Daniel L. Doctoroff, GIPEC Vice Chairman Mallory Factor, GIPEC President Leslie Koch, New York State Governor George E. Pataki, City of New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, NY State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi, Chair Senate Finance Committee Owen Johnson, Chair Senate Education Committee Stephen Saland, Chair Senate Committee on Tourism Mary Lou Rath, Chair Senate Committee on Ethics George Winner, Jr., Chair Assembly Committee on Ethics Kevin A. Cahill

Fndn for Historic New Amsterda

  •   posted 5/20/06 2:10:PMMay 13, 2006The Hon. James N. Tedisco,        Minority Leader of the State AssemblyRepublican Leader, State Assembly, LOB 933Albany, NY 12248The Dynamic Value of Religious, Ethnic and Racial Toleranceî ºthe Lifeblood of American Libertyî ºUnites Us in FreedomDear Representative Tedisco,We were pleasantly surprised to receive a letter from you, dated May 10, 2006, in which you referred to a

“comprehensive Restore New York legislative packageâ€�. The appropriation of $30 million in funding for Governors Island is encouraging, although a substantial portion of it is for basic maintenance or “preservationâ€� of existing infrastructure as stipulated in the deed which transferred federal jurisdiction to state jurisdiction.The Restore New York package, however, turns out to be a “partial legislative packageâ€� as it doesn’t relate to the Legislature’s fundamental responsibility of safeguarding and preserving New York State’s vital, most meaningful landmark with an intrinsic message of profound national denotation: Governors Island**.As you know, for eight years, we have attempted to find just ONE legislator in the Senate and ONE in the Assembly with the initiative, courage and willingness to consider sponsoring a bill which would restore, preserve and sustain New York State’s unique cultural heritage and identity on the state’s most historic space; its birthplace!The enclosed package summarizes the historical rationale and the past political machinations once more. Scrutinizing this information may, perhaps, make you [re]consider becoming that leader who will advance a bi-partisan effort toward accomplishing the envisaged iconic American tableau―the National Heritage Triangle of America’s primary values―by preserving Governors Island’s legacy.Doubtless, you may agree that restoring and protecting the State’s thematic patrimony is neither a Republican or Democratic issue nor just a “localâ€� issue.We hope that you will consider taking this challenge and look forward to hearing from you.Sincerely,                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Joep de Koning                        President@TolerancePark.orghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_Islandwww.NationalHeritageTriangle.com                                                                                      ** In 1624 and 1625, the settlers to Governors Island had to attract, “through attitude and by exampleâ€�, the natives and non-believers to God’s word “without, on the other hand, to persecute someone by reason of his religion and to leave everyone the freedom of his conscience.â€� It founded the legal-cultural underpinning of pluralism in the NY Tri-State and was the basis for the statement that “Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religionâ€� as codified in 1791.

cc: Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Attorney General Eliot Spitzerbcc: Assembly Representatives Paul Tokasz, Herman Farrell Jr., Richard Brodsky, Catherine Nolan, Joseph Morelle, Adriano Espaillat, Deborah Glick, John McEneny, Joan Christensen, Kevin Cahill;NY Senators David Paterson, Mary Lou Rath, George Winner, Jr., Stephen Saland, Owen Johnson, Martin Connor, Hugh T. Farley, Liz Krueger, Dean Skelos;U.S. Senators Charles Schumer, Hillary Clinton; Congressional Delegates Charles Rangel, Jerrold Nadler, Carolyn Maloney, Anthony Weiner; Bernadette Castro, Commissioner, NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; Adrian Benepe, Commissioner, City of NY Parks & Recreation; Richard J. Schwartz, Chairman, New York State Council for the Arts; Kate D. Levin, Commissioner, Department of Cultural Affairs; Director NYC Department of City Planning Amanda Burden;

Kathryn S. Wylde, President , The New York City Partnership; Cristyne L. Nicholas, President, NYC & Company; Jonathan M. Tisch, Chairman, NYC & Company.

CVB Artist Space  •   posted 5/25/06 1:13:AMCould a portion of Governor's Island be used as a rent controlled non-live artist studio space? I live on Staten Island and currently pay an exorbitant amount for a studio in Manhattan's Meatpacking district.

Fndn for Historic New Amsterda

Artist Space  •   posted 5/25/06 1:10:PMAbsolutely, see http://tolerancepark.org/_wsn/page2.htmlOne building alone, Liggitt Hall, is good for studio space for thousands of artists.Just spread the word or the website www.TolerancePark.org.JdeK

Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam

REV. KING JR. PAPERS  •   posted 7/20/06 11:56:AMJune 24, 2006The Hon. Shirley Franklin                  Mayor of Atlanta, City of Atlanta55 Trinity AvenueAtlanta, Georgia 30303The Dynamic Value of Religious, Ethnic and Racial Toleranceî ºthe Lifeblood of American Libertyî ºUnites Us in FreedomDear Mayor Franklin,Congratulations on successfully having bought Dr. King’s papers for his alma mater. You are to be commended for leading the coalition which makes ongoing public access to his written legacy possible.You may be interested in knowing that, apparently too late, we had asked Mayor Bloomberg of New York City and a core group of New York business leaders, to lead a similar charge in putting together a syndicate which would bid for the papers.The objective was to make them available to the general public in a monument intrinsically dedicated to the memory of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.   The monument would be 151 feet which is of equal height to the Statue of Liberty (without pedestal) and is planned to be the centerpiece of a Tolerance Park on Governors Island (see enclosed).Our question to you is whether there may be any member(s) of your coalition, with interest and the requisite courage, who could be interested in becoming helpful with the political approval for the monument. We have sought such specific approval for the park and monument in the New York State Senate, Assembly and New York City Council for seven full years to no avail.You may have a chance to raise the subject upon your visit to New York City later this month. You should know that there is not one single politician or one political appointee of substance in New York State who wouldn’t know about the Tolerance Monument in the Tolerance Park. Yet, they are all mute in the matter.Any effort you can undertake, therefore, with regard to generating a broader public knowledge on this subject would be much appreciated.Will you also be able to lead with regard to the Monument with its implicit dedication to Dr. King?

Sincerely,                                                                                    

Joep de KoningPresident@TolerancePark.orgwww.NationalHeritageTriangle.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_Island        

cc:   Mr. Walter E. Massey, President, Morehouse College; Mr. David Redden, Vice Chairman, Sotheby’sBcc: Governor George Pataki; Mayor Michael Bloomberg; City Council Members; Mr. Robert L. Johnson; Mr. E. Stanley O'Neal, Chair, Merrill Lynch; Mr. Kenneth I. Chenault, Chair, American Express; Mr. Richard D. Parsons, Chair, Time Warner; U.S. President George W. Bush; U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Chair Preserve America Laura Bush; Chair John Nau, III and Executive Director John Fowler, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; Administrator GSA Lurita Doan; Acting Regional Administrator GSA Steve Ruggiero; Director of OMB, Mr. Rob Portman; Chair, Anthony Coscia and Executive Director, Mr. Kenneth J. Ringler Jr,, Port Authority of NY & NJ; GIPEC’s Chair, Vice Chair and President; Dr. John Alschuler, Jr., President, Hamilton, Rabinovitz & Alschuler, Inc.; Mr. Joseph Brown, FASLA, President and CEO, and Ms. Barbara Faga, FASLA, Chair, Board of Directors, EDAW, Inc.

Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam

PREMISE + PROMISE OF INCLUSION  •   posted 7/20/06 12:02:PMJune 21, 2006The Honorable Michael R. BloombergMayor of the City of New YorkCity HallNew York, N.Y. 10007                                The Dynamic Value of Religious, Ethnic and Racial Toleranceî ºthe Lifeblood of American Libertyî ºUnites Us in FreedomDear Mayor Bloomberg,Please find enclosed a CD with a concise PDF file which proffers a deeper understanding of Governors Island’s momentous national legacy to American freedom as celebrated on the upcoming Fourth of July festivities.The file outlines America’s most meaningful history and postulates that tolerance and liberty are equal partners in American freedom.The historical overview is the best way for you to understand the symbolism and national significance of Governors Island in New York harbor. The island denotes New York's identity and portrays our nation’s ultimate virtue.Six years ago, on July 3, 2000, Robert L. Bartley, then Editor of The Wall Street Journal, wrote that “America’s uniqueness, its special advantage celebrated tomorrow, is that it is a nation rooted not in ethnic heritage given by birth, but in a set of ideals any immigrant can shareâ€�.We might add that the nation’s beginning, or its uniqueness today, wasn’t rooted in religious or racial heritage either as pointed out in the succinct presentation. Namely, a Manhattan farm in the 1630’s was owned by a Moroccan Muslim and, in 1655, both Ashkenazim and Sephardim were full citizens of what today is New York. Governors Island was also the place of residence of a [free] man of African descent in 1613.From the very beginning, New York’s heritage was not based on a religious, ethnic or racial concept. It was rooted in the cultural precept of tolerance as reflected in peoples’ legal right to freedom of conscience and religion as the basis for ethnic diversity, popular sovereignty and trade which transcended issues of religion and ethnicity. New York State, then

New Netherland, was created on the premise and promise of inclusion, not exclusion. It embraced many nationalities, religions and races from the very start. This quintessential New Amsterdam/New York culture endures to this very day.We hope that your goal as mayor of New York City, like ours, is to preserve the island’s historic message by restoring and sustaining that inheritance for the nation. Doubtless, you are familiar with our envisaged education and history project, promulgated since 1997, which is designed to accomplish that goal.If you have any questions or comments, please let us know.Sincerely,                                                                                    

Joep de Koning                        President@TolerancePark.org         www.NationalHeritageTriangle.comcc: Governor George Pataki; Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno; Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver; bcc: U.S. President George W. Bush; U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Chair Preserve America Laura Bush; Chair John Nau, III and Executive Director John Fowler, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; Administrator GSA Lurita Doan; Acting Regional Administrator GSA Steve Ruggiero; Director of OMB, Mr. Rob Portman; Attorney General Eliot Spitzer; Chair, Anthony Coscia and Executive Director, Mr. Kenneth J. Ringler Jr,, Port Authority of NY & NJ; City Councilmembers; GIPEC’s Chair, Vice Chair and President; Dr. John Alschuler, Jr., President, Hamilton, Rabinovitz & Alschuler, Inc.; Mr. Joseph Brown, FASLA, President and CEO, and Ms. Barbara Faga, FASLA, Chair, Board of Directors, EDAW, Inc.PS For historical background on Governors Island go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_Island

Anthonyz Statue  •   posted 11/14/07 3:01:PM       Equal to the height of our Statue of Liberty???? A joke I presume.

Anthonyz. Statue  •   posted 11/14/07 3:14:PM         Just got a brain storm,why not take down the Statue Of Liberty,and replace it with Sharpton & Jackson? Let's go all the way.This way, we got three fearless leaders!

Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam

NATURAL RIGHT + ENDURING TRADITION  •   posted 7/20/06 12:07:PMJuly 17, 2006The Hon. Michael R. BloombergMayor of the City of New YorkCity HallNew York, N.Y. 10007The Dynamic Value of Religious, Ethnic and Racial Toleranceî ºthe Lifeblood of American Libertyî ºUnites Us in FreedomDear Mayor Bloomberg,Please find enclosed an educative article for your summer pleasure reading.It explains the historical context in which the Governors Island settlement took place and how and why the concept of religious diversity as a natural right and enduring cultural tradition started there first, in 1624, within the original thirteen of the United States of America.The enormous symbolic significance of the island to the nation can only be understood by knowing and comprehending

the contemporary issues of intolerance, persecution and discrimination as they existed elsewhere in the world at the time and, above all, in the adjoining colonies of Virginia and New England.We don’t want to go there though, as that is neither the point of the exercise nor, for that matter, the purpose of the tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam. Its focus is New York’s contribution.It is only natural that the island―New York State’s birthplace and most important landmark―be broadly acknowledged as the nation’s earliest fundamental cultural asset for the benefit of future generations of Americans. Although the pragmatic version of tolerance is often more readily understood, we are striving to impart the righteous version of America’s ultimate virtue through broad awareness and conscious vigilance.If you have any questions or comments on how religious tolerance, planted first on Governors Island, shaped the concepts of American liberty and freedom into eventual codification, please let us know.Sincerely,                                                                                    Joep de Koning                        President@TolerancePark.org        www.NationalHeritageTriangle.com   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_Island

cc: George E. Pataki, Governor, New York State; Joseph L. Bruno, Majority Leader, NY State Senate; Sheldon Silver, Speaker, New York State Assembly; Paul Tokasz, Majority Leader, NY State Assembly; Christine Quinn, Speaker, New York City Council; Eliot Spitzer, New York State Attorney General; Chair, Senate Finance Committee, Owen Johnson; Stephen Saland, Chair, Senate Education Committee; Mary Lou Rath, Chair, Senate Committee on Tourism; George Winner, Jr., Chair, Senate Committee on Ethics; Kevin A. Cahill, Chair, Assembly Committee on Ethics; Catherine Nolan, Chair, Assembly Education Committee; Joseph D. Morelle, Chair, Assembly Committee on Tourism; Leslie Koch, President, GIPEC; U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton; U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer; U.S. Senator Pat Roberts; U.S. Senator U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu; U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra; U.S. Rep. Chris van Hollen; U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell; U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Davis; U.S. Rep. Vernon Ehlers; U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach; U.S. Rep. Joseph Knollenberg; U.S. Rep. Donald A. Manzullo; U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter; U.S. Rep. Michael McNulty; U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson; U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; U.S. Rep. Edolphus Towns 

Fndn for Hist. New A

REQUEST for ENDORSEMENT by GOVERNOR and FUNDING  •   posted 11/1/06 8:06:PMAugust 17, 2006The Hon. George E. Pataki        Governor, New York StateExecutive Office, Governor Pataki633 Third Avenue, 39th floorNew York, NY 10017STRICTLY for PERSONAL ATTENTIONDear Governor Pataki,We understand that currently $7 million dollars are still available for disbursement from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (“LMDCâ€�). Additionally, $45 million in “community enhancementâ€� grants, promised by you in May 2005, have not been awarded yet. We therefore would like to ask you to reserve some of these monies for our proposed Governors Island education and history project prior to your departure as governor of New York State.

You may remember that we spent over two years raising a $100 million pledge for the tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam on Governors Island. A delegation from the Netherlands came to visit New York to deliver the pledge to the State and the City in the year 2000.The pledge served as an initial act of good faith in order to start a dialogue about the envisaged Governors Island project and to induce the State and City to match it. This would have enabled the scheduled opening of the park on September 11, 2009; the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Dutch East India Company ship Half Moon, captained by Henry Hudson, in New York harbor. However, we and the delegation found the political door solidly closed and, after a week of lingering, the delegation departed with empty hands.Subsequent to the horrific act of global intolerance on 9/11/2001, we decided to continue the quest for a political response and to reverse the process by asking the LMDC for a $100 million challenge grant. Later, we asked the LMDC for some funding out of a $35 million Cultural Enhancement Fund. Both requests were denied by way of silence.Therefore, our request to you is most likely your last chance as governor to support actively the restoration, preservation and sustainment of Governors Island’s national legacy and New York’s identity.The enclosed CD Rom contains (1) a Concise Concept Summary of the 50 acre tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam; (2) a Slide Presentation; and (3) an Article which provides the historical context in which the Governors Island settlement took place in 1624 and why the island is the origin of American toleration and pluralism.The article points out (see page 14) that following the Declaration of Independence of the 13 states in 1776, the earliest and only reference to religion occurred in 1787; that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.â€� However, for New York State (originally New Netherland), religious tolerance and pluralism as a legal-political condition was delivered to Governors Island in 1624. We are therefore puzzled by your silence about our project and your insistence on transforming a commercial office tower to a symbol with a height of 1776 feet. What has an appalling act of global [religious] intolerance to do with the 1776 Declaration of Independence? We explained that disparity to you on October 31, 2003.Today, the City’s director of the population division of the Department of City Planning estimated the number of foreign-born and their children to be “easily in excess of 60 percent, maybe even two-thirdâ€� (NY Times, Sam Roberts, 8-15-06). Such plurality is not the same as successful pluralism. Hence, one’s understanding of that distinction is the focus of our education and history project on Governors Island.The island was the origin in America of the concept of religious tolerance as a natural right. Toleration was then the basis for ethnic diversity (and still is) and the beginning of an enduring cultural tradition in the New York Tri-State region which started on Governors Island in 1624. This precept of tolerance, of which Governors Island is its symbol, was unique within the Original Thirteen of the United States of America.It is only natural that the island―New York State’s birthplace and most important landmark―be acknowledged by you as the nation’s earliest fundamental cultural asset for the benefit of future generations of Americans.We trust that you will examine the CD Rom and can give us your endorsement and support by considering our request.Sincerely,Joep de Koning                                                                               www.NationalHeritageTriangle.comwww.Governorsislandtolerancepark.orgwww.LifebloodofAmericanLiberty.comcc:   Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno; Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver                            

bcc: Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer, U.S. Senator Hillary R. Clinton                Just thinking...

lease it  •   posted 10/28/06 6:13:AMWhat to do with Governors Island? Hmm,let's see.The island should be leased to the Jets and Giants,upon which would be built a state of the art,retractable roof stadium,allowing for 16 yearly games and innumerable special events for all New Yorkers.Fans would be picked up at a designated parking area and transported accross by ferry and/or trains using elevated rail lines/bridges.Upkeep and expenses would be paid through ridership fares.The city would make money not just from the lease-double with two teams-but also by parking fees and,presumably,a tax on the ridership fares.What's that,the Jets and Giants already have agreements with NJ for a new stadium?Oh,well,I wish someone would've asked me sooner.

Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam

MORAL CONSCIENCE  •   posted 12/1/06 8:53:AMDecember 1, 2006Via E-mail and United States Postal Service

Subject:         REQUEST FOR YOUR MORAL SUPPORT                       OF NEW YORK STATE’S INHERITANCEDear Senator Paterson,May we receive only your MORAL SUPPORT for the Tolerance Park’s mission as stated on www.NationalHeritageTriangle.com?This passionate appeal to your moral conscience as individual member of the State Legislature is vital in the restoration, preservation and nourishment of New York State’s legacy and identity on the place of its birth: Governors Island.Upon receipt of your moral support at TolerancePark@aol.com, your name will be added to the list of those legislators whose names, in order of receipt, have been listed on that web site.Your name on the site www.NationalHeritageTriangle.com will thus serve the people of your district and, more importantly, of all the people of New York State and will be in the lasting interest of your district and state as well as for the National Common Good.May we put your name on the web site (for moral support only―that is, no money, no promises, no obligations and no stated support for legislation)?Sincerely,Joep de Koning(212) 737-3216President@TolerancePark.orghttp://tolerancepark.org/_wsn/page2.htmlwww.GovernorsIslandTolerancePark.orgcc: Attorney General and Governor-Elect Eliot Spitzer       All legislatorsTINY BACKGROUND SUMMARY AS RATIONALE FOR YOUR SUPPORT:Since the decommissioning of Governors Island as a Coast Guard base we set out to restore the island’s historical integrity and to preserve its national legacy as a historic New York symbol.New York State’s historic contribution to the nation and its historical identity would thus be sustained for the benefit of future generations. This education and history endeavor was started full time by us in late 1997 with a view toward

completing our mission with the official opening of the self-sustaining, mostly privately financed and privately-managed project in September 2009―the commemoration of the discovery of New York 400 years ago.As federally-owned property, the White House, under President William Jefferson Clinton, had agreed that jurisdiction over the island was to be transferred to New York for the nominal sum of one dollar provided New York State and New York City would jointly agree to a reutilization plan prior to October 1, 2001. After that date, a Congressional law stipulated that the island had to be sold at auction to the highest bidder.The transformation of Governors Island into a primary American symbol through the envisaged tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam could only become reality if the 50 acres of required land would be available for one dollar per year through a long term lease.Such a lease would only be possible if we could neutralize various powerful local forces with influential political connections who were committed to devote their energy to the deal of the moment. These narrow powers were seeking to frustrate “outsider� interest including our superior, everlasting vision of meaning and substance for the [national] common good which also happened to be Governors Island’s unique historic legacy and illustrative of New York’s identity on the State’s very birthplace or the source of American pluralism.Federal and New York State understanding of this dilemma therefore was imperative in order to prevent, for example, the old, politically expedient, tested recipe of a Roosevelt Island-style development from happening on Governors Island. In addition, we frantically sought for a way to preserve the one dollar transfer after the Congressional deadline of September 31, 2001.It had become patently clear that the State and the City were unable to come up with an enforceable joint plan for the island, in spite of several public pronouncements that “the City and the State have an excellent plan� (Giuliani/Pataki, April 18, 2001). A nominal transfer of federal jurisdiction to New York would thus become a give-away to special local interests at the expense of the American population. Moreover, we had been unable to have any dialogue with the State and City about our mission since 1997 (their joint history and legacy) which, if it had been embraced jointly by the State and the City, would have guaranteed an easy one-dollar transfer without any problem.Hence, in August 2001, we came up with the Federal Land Act of 1785 as legal standard to prevent the auctioning off of the island. This legal precedent called for the donation of federal land to a state if dedicated to education. Thus dedicating Governors Island to the theme of education would allow the nominal transfer to take place past the legal deadline and would enable our education and history project to go forward for the common good.Our August 2001 presentations to President Bush, Governor Pataki and Mayor Giuliani, and subsequently to Mayor Bloomberg, were apparently well received by them as, on April 1, 2002, the island was dedicated to education by them. Yet, the actual nominal transfer of jurisdiction was held in abeyance. This afforded us more time to seek vigorously a White House/federal government agreement (i.e., the General Service Administration) which would stipulate that jurisdictional transfer would also be conditioned upon the allocation of 50 acres for the tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam.On January 31, 2003, the transfer to New York State took place with the federal provision that at least 60 acres would be reserved for park land of which 40 acres had to be contiguous. However, the agreement did not condition their dedication to the tolerance park specifically thus leaving it up to the State and City, again, to jointly agree on devoting the fifty required acres, out of 172-acre large Governors Island, to their intended purpose; the tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam.Meanwhile, during that five-year process when the island was effectively in federal hands, we had sought intensively the

proactive engagement of New York City’s Mayors, the State Governor and the State and City legislators in order to get them to acknowledge their joint heritage.Namely, during those five years, politicians could have embraced political recognition of New York’s cultural patrimony as an act of personal conscience. It would have fostered a political commitment to the development process geared toward the pursuit of the island’s restoration as New York’s most important landmark with a historic symbolic meaning of national significance. Ever since New York State’s ownership of the island on February 1, 2003, we continued to appeal to the politicians with even more fervor toward that goal.The upcoming year 2007 is the tenth year in which we are seeking legislative interest and support for New York’s cultural heritage through our education and history project. You may agree that during the last nine years we have attained a lot for the State and City of New York (i.e., an education dedication, a one-dollar transfer and a set-aside of at least 60 acres of which 50 can be dedicated to the tolerance park by the State Legislature).In spite of various third-party attempts at seizing the project’s intellectual property for various personal and political purposes or agendas, its rights, required for long term success, are still intact. To date, everything is in place to make the transformation of the island to a fundamental American icon still possible by way of the tolerance park Historic New Amsterdam. What remains outstanding however is the pursuit of ethical choice in the Legislature.We hope that you agree that the bulk of what was to be accomplished has been attained. However, these sizable achievements have been gifted to the people of New York by the federal government prior to February 1, 2003. Since then, it has been up to the Legislature to confer that gift onto the American people in general and the people of New York specifically through legislation. Nearly four years have now passed since that date without any legislative dialogue or follow-up. That could perhaps change with changes in New York’s Executive Chamber in 2007.May you therefore be willing to acknowledge what has been attained for the people of the State by giving us your precious moral support for the Foundation’s mission as described on www.NationalHeritageTriangle.com? It would be “a small step forward and a giant leap for mankind…!�May we put your name on that web site signifying your MORAL SUPPORT?

Fndn for Historic New Amsterda

SHARED MUTUAL HERITAGE  •   posted 2/27/07 9:36:PMFebruary 18, 2007

Subject: SHARED MUTUAL HERITAGE of two nationsDear Assembly Speaker Silver,As New York State Legislator, will you be content to forgo New York’s first historic landing with its compelling and relevant message of national substance—disavowing Governors Island’s (and New York State’s) rightful place in primary American history?Are you entirely satisfied with the national recognition of only two out of the three crucial North American settlements thus accepting solely the early settlements of Jamestown, Virginia, and New Plymouth, New England, as elemental American history (as visualized through Jamestown Settlement and Plimoth Plantation respectively)?In this regard, we are asking you to consider earnestly the following:Governors Island represents the Shared Mutual Heritage of two nations because it was the place of first settlement in North-America between 38 and 42 degrees latitude (see http://www.nnp.org/nni/Virtual%20Papers/Governors%20Island,%20Lifeblood%20of%20American%20Liberty.pdf).Thirty families landed on the island in 1624—delivered by the ship “New Netherland�—and built there a saw mill

and a fortification prior to some of these settlers moving to Manhattan. In the 1990’s a skeleton was dug up and returned to Governors Island’s soil without further analysis while the National Park Service had found evidence of the foundation of a windmill.More importantly, the conception of toleration (= religious tolerance) as the legal-cultural basis for ethnic diversity and pluralism was planted on Governors Island in 1624—a first in the western hemisphere.For these reasons and as the Birthplace of New York State as well as a Historical Archeological Landmark, Governors Island is a National Monument and a National Historic Symbol (see www.TolerancePark.org).If you are prepared to accept New York’s most important history as fundamental national history may we then have your moral support for the mission of the Foundation for Historic New Amsterdam? You know that the Foundation endeavors to have New York’s legacy to America’s culture of pluralism visualized through an iconic creation (see http://www.hlfunk.com/gi/giproject.pdf). May we place your name on www.NationalHeritageTriangle.com with the other legislators who have already done so?We look forward to having your positive consideration in this matter by seeing your name soon on www.NationalHeritageTriangle.com as moral defender of New York’s legacy. If you have any questions, please let me know at (212) 737-3216. Any response from you will be appreciated.Sincerely,Joep de KoningPresident@TolerancePark.orgFoundation for Historic New Amsterdamwww.TolerancePark.org139 East 79th Street, 15th floorNew York, NY 10021cc: All NY State and City Legislators by E-mail; NY City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg bcc: Governor Eliot Spitzer; Lieutenant Governor David Paterson; State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo; State Inspector General Kristine Hamann; Downstate Chair, Empire State Development Corporation Pat Foye; Downstate COO and President Empire State Development Corporation Avi Schick

Fndn for Historic New Amsterda

DERELICT IN MY DUTY  •   posted 3/15/07 7:23:PMMarch 14, 2007Dear Mayor Bloomberg,                                                                                                                              You were quoted in the New York Times as saying yesterday: “I’d be derelict in my duty if I didn’t go and continue to use every advantage that I can to promote New York’s cause.â€�That New York cause is the protection, restoration, preservation and enduring recognition of its unique cultural legacy as embodied by Governors Island in New York Harbor. Namely, that island is the historic source of the archetypal New York conception of tolerance as innate to the ideal of American Freedom. Governors Island is therefore America’s oldest natural symbol.America’s fundamental principles of individual liberty through toleration (Freedom of Religion) and political freedom (Right-of-Man Doctrine) are rooted in New York’s primary history. These concepts have been contributed by New York when its tri-state region was called New Netherland (1614-1674).That territory was discovered by the East India Company (VOC) with the ship Half Moon captained by Henry Hudson in 1609, was named New Netherland first by the explorer and private fur trader Adriaen Block in 1614, and became a legal-

political North-American entity of the Republic of the United Netherlands in 1624 with the settlement of the first colonists on Governors Island.The significance of the island lies in the fact that it represents an elemental part of American culture and freedom as well as the shared cultural heritage of two nations thus.We would appreciate it, indeed, if you could “use every advantage to promote New York’s [most important] cause.�Sincerely,Joep de KoningPresident@TolerancePark.orgwww.GovernorsIslandTolerancePark.orgwww.LifebloodofAmericanLiberty.comwww.TolerancePark.orgwww.NationalHeritageTriangle.comwww.HistoricNewAmsterdam.com

bcc: New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer Fndn for Historic New Amsterda

REJECTION GOVERNORS ISLAND TOLERANCE MONUMENT 2009  •   posted 5/4/07 3:14:PMMay 3, 2007RE: REJECTION TOLERANCE MONUMENT 2009Dear Speaker Silver,Can you please confirm to us that the people of New York State – who you represent – are not ready or interested in accepting the Tolerance Monument (see http://tolerancepark.org/_wsn/page2.html) upon the quadricentennial commemoration of the discovery of New York? This momentous event occurred with the entrance of the [Dutch] East India Company ship Half Moon into New York harbor when it sailed through the narrows on September 11, 1609.To date, after ten years of work to accomplish legislative and visual recognition of the historic meaning of New York State’s birthplace by 2009, just 4 out of 212 state legislators believe that the people of New York are ready for this new American symbol (see www.NationalHeritageTriangle.com).   We look forward to having your acknowledgment of our assumption of your decline as in above. We trust that you will give us the well-deserved benefit of your confirmation per return e-mail.Sincerely,Joep de KoningPresident@TolerancePark.org http://www.LifebloodofAmericanLiberty.comhttp://tolerancepark.org http://www.Governorsislandtolerancepark.orghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_Islandcc: 208 New York State legislators, 51 City Council membersbcc: 5 Borough Presidents 

Fndn for Historic New

THE CHOICE IS YOURS, THROUGH LEGISLATION  •   posted 6/8/07 10:34:AMSubject:        IT IS YOUR CHOICE: Only one [park] will survive

Amsterda Date:        6/8/2007 7:43:00 A.M. Pacific Daylight TimeFrom:         TolerancePark To:        bruno@senate.state.ny.us

Re: IT IS YOUR CHOICE: Only one [park] will survive [on Governors Island].Hello Senator Bruno,Compare http://tolerancepark.org/_wsn/page2.html to http://nymag.com/news/features/32387/?imw=YCompare our meaningful text, representing Governors Island’s momentous legacy and reflective of New York’s identity, to five meaningless pictures supported by inflated language of press releases (also, check out the pr language on the subject matter of the last ten years!) and judge for yourself which park will survive. The choice is yours only, as legislator.Many thanks to all the politicians who have given their endorsements already to the Tolerance Park project, including the Amsterdam City Council members, Europarliament members and even Hillary Clinton. Many thanks too for the private initiatives (i.e., a play, various web sites, bloggers, photo projects, radio and television programs).Only your endorsement is missing. Too busy? Don’t worry.Just return this e-mail and I will put your name with your others colleagues.Forgotten what this was all about? Doesn’t matter. Here is the link to the web site with the names of the supporters (www.NationalHeritageTriangle.com).I am most interested in your reaction, even if you don’t want to give your support for this unique opportunity to integrate New York State’s most important landmark—the yet unexploited national cultural asset of Governors Island—into contemporary community life, and so achieve a greater shared knowledge about the nation's past, strengthen the State's identity of tolerance as the lifeblood of American liberty, fortify New York's civic pride, and drive New York's artistic and economic vitality.The choice is yours, through legislation.Joep de Koningwww.TolerancePark.orgbcc: All members of the NY State Senate, Assembly and NY City Council

mrs. dr. jesse bos

tolerance park  •   posted 6/9/07 4:02:PMAs a member of the Amsterdam city council I support your ideas on creating a tolerance monument and park. We should have a place like that in 'Old Amsterdam' as well, and connect them in some way! Lets make this happen!

Eli Takesian Governors Island, NY  •   posted 6/14/07 7:22:AMThis is my third installment on what to do with Governors Island. I had suggested that the island be used as a public park that includes eating facilities (former Officers' Club and former Enlisted Dining Hall); chapel for weddings; bed and breakfast (officers' mansions in Nolan Park); playgrounds; picnic areas; museums (Governors mansion, and the old school building into a history of the island museum; activate the old 9-hole golf course; etc. A new suggestion is to turn 

the ship piers (facing Brooklyn) that once harbored Coast Guard cutters and repair ships into slots for private yachts and motor-driven boats.

Caleb Governor's Island  •   posted 8/4/07 3:26:PMYears ago there was speculation about Governor's Island land which is federal as well as state property being donated back to the Native Americans in order to build a casino. Since casinos are now the best thing since the slice of bread to the working class community of New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina, just imagine the millions of water taxis each year from all 5 boroughs and NJ along with the revenue a casino on Governor's Island would bring to the city.

Chris June 27, 2007 Tour Gov Island See new plans  •   posted 6/21/07 7:33:PMOn June 27th there will be a (free) tourof Governor's Island relating tothe planning.It is sponsored, in part, by the Governor's Island Aliance.Time is 5 PM. Meeting place Maritime Terminal next to Staten sland Ferry (Take the 1 train)You must RSVP... see below...

This is copied fromhttp://www.governorsislandalliance.org/"Walking Tours, Thursday, June 21 and Wednesday, June 27, 5:00 – 7:00 PM:

Come take an evening stroll on beautiful Governors Island and discuss proposals for its new parks and historic public spaces with New York City park experts and GIPEC and Alliance staff. Space is limited. See http://www.governorsislandalliance.org/for more details".

Former Resident

Put a language school there  •   posted 7/18/07 7:11:PMI'm one of the few people who has both lived on the island and attended CUNY, through the Honors College. I work for the government, and we always need more people who speak various foreign languages. Since the island is so expensive, why not partner with the federal government and build a school for language study in the city? Most big academic language centers are in the middle of nowhere. Meanwhile, CUNY has one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse student populations in the world. I know CUNY partnering with the government would be unpopular, but there is a critical need, and CUNY is uniquely qualified to provide culturally astute and linguistically proficient graduates to the federal government. It would bring prestige to CUNY as a nationally recognized academic center, would leverage the diversity of

both CUNY and New York City, and would help our country win and promote a lasting peace around the world. Also, it could get serious funding from the feds.

charlie Ethnic Diversity Park  •   posted 9/24/07 10:07:AM      Sugest that whenever an annual ethnic holiday rolls around,use the park exclusively for that holiday. This will not impair traffic in Manhattan, & save the City alot of money roping off streets etc.

Fndn for Historic New Amsterda

Ethnic promotion  •   posted 10/3/07 9:40:PMCharlie, Parades are held often as ethnic (and sometimes religious) promotions by certain cultural groups. They have to do with cultural identity and pride. Remember, Tolerance is about the mortar of the house - not the bricks and stone. Your idea would help divide rather then unite. Fostering the mortar to keep the house together is an original American value and is what the Tolerance Park is all about. Joep

T.J. Park  •   posted 10/2/07 4:17:PM         That is a good sugestion, however,knowing the City like I do,If it's not a money making deal, they won't do it. People don't count, only money does.

Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam

Only Money  •   posted 10/3/07 9:16:PMT.J. That's easy. The Statue of Liberty is worth billions of dollars to America in intangible benefits by its ubiquitous presence alone. In tangible dollars received (e.g., New York city and state tourism) it is worth hundreds of millions per year to the city and state. And what about Central Park? In value creation alone (i.e, of the surrounding real estate values and concomitant incremental tax revenues), Central Park, its very existence and privately maintained grounds, are a win-win for the city and state in all respects. True, developers had preferred to have it paved over with skyscrapers but the city would have been the poorer for it. Bless the visionary who made it happen. The politicians have no choice but to sponsor legislation that will restore, preserve and maintain the island’s national historic legacy for future generations through the Tolerance Park with the Tolerance Monument as centerpiece. It would be like having Central park and the Statue of Liberty in one fell swoop. What do you think that the National Heritage Triangle as a triad of symbolic islands representing America’s fundamental values, each having its own unique history, can be worth tangibly and intangibly? Joep   

T.J. Only Money  •   posted 10/4/07 6:50:AM       That is an excellent thought!

m.l.k. Monument

AnthonyZ.  •   posted 11/16/07 4:07:PM       The idea of Putting a Monument of Martin Luther King on Gov. Island as tall as the Statue of Liberty is a joke beyond belief.Put one up in Atlanta with him,Sharpton,& Jackson all standing together.Don't force them down our throat.This is a N.Y. forum, & people from Atlanta should stay out of it.

Fndn for Hist. New Amsterdam

MLK Jr.  •   posted 12/2/07 9:55:PMAnthony, You haven't read carefully. Your attitude stands in the way and therefore you don't understand. This is not a monument to Martin Luther King Jr. but a Tolerance Monument which IMPLICITLY is devoted to racial tolerance because of Barnett Newman's bona fide dedication of his original Broken-Obelisk to MLK Jr. The Tolerance Park will not promote religion, ethnicity and race. It only focuses on the cement that holds the house together, not the individual pieces which constitute the house.

Fndn for Historic New Amsterda

Dynamic Tolerance to define the limits of static L  •   posted 12/3/07 10:41:AMAnthonyZ, One more point. Only when Philadelphia agreed to take the French statue (151 ft high) became New Yorkers interested in the French gift. Only then did New Yorkers decide to allocate the land and collect the resources for the base to comprise museum space as an integrated pedestal (also 151 ft high). As a result, the statue was inaugurated ten years

too late – in 1886 instead of 1876 at the centennial of the American Republic. Bedloe Island was only renamed in 1956 to Liberty Island. Vision, initiative and proactive endeavor are hard to embrace in politics. Reactive effort is the rule.

PJB Goversnors Island  •   posted 12/19/07 12:38:PMThere is only one thing to do with the isalnd GIVE IT TO DONALD TRUMP He will make it the most famous island in the worldthe money new york will make could save us all big tax dollars   do the same thing with Coney Island and the Rockaways he can make this the American Riviera again big tax saving to us all of us money in the bank buy a new 73" super TV....anything else would be stipid...dumb... did i say syupid....give the island to TRUMP

Anita Simple  •   posted 1/17/08 1:14:PM          Put it to a vote,& let the New Yorkers decide, not the polititions,& not the "ethnic groups".The decision lies in the hands of the working class,nyc residents period.It should be the Mayor's job to coordinate the vote.Not a hard problem at all.

eljefe U.N. on GOV. ISLAND  •   posted 4/26/08 1:28:PMWith the current necessity to rebuild the United Nations, doesn't it make sense to trade Gov. Island for the U.N. property?Gov. Island is more secure, the construction could take place without disturbing the current location, there is space for expansion and diplomatic housing, it would relieve NYC of the substantial island infrastructure costs, the Manhattan land could be sold, developed, and taxed.Most of the current plans are an economic loss to NYC with very little quality-of-life gains.