Political Insider: Old Peter ripped from his pedestal outside School 11

By Agustin C. Torres/The Jersey Journal

February 06, 2010, 6:00PM

Victoria Cheng/The Jersey Journal
A work crew works on the base where the sculpture of Peter Stuyvesant stood in front of School 11 in Jersey City.


This is not a history lesson but more of a debate about our past, which right away falls under the category of a culture clash. There will probably be more answers to the question why and who is responsible after you read this.

This is about Peter Stuyvesant and Jersey City -- specifically when the city was born. Stuyvesant, governor of what would eventually become New York, was himself a political figure and now finds himself in the middle of a modern debate. Should he give way to more recent historic figures who resonate more with the present population?

http://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/ ... _Peter.htm

Christopher Columbus knows what is happening to Stuyvesant because the Great Navigator once moved around Journal Square like one of those felt-based running back figures that vibrate all over a metal gridiron in those classic electric football games. It is apparently Peter's turn to erratically head for the end zone.

Yesterday morning, without any warning, workmen removed the bronze Stuyvesant statue from its place in front of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School (School 11), put it on the back of a truck and drove off. The stone-etched words on the statue were cut out and the afternoon was spent jackhammering the base.

The surprise attack took local historians and conservancy people off guard, and they spent the afternoon calling each other.

POLITICAL INSIDER

Unless a ransom note arrives, the consensus was that the order to remove the likeness of the great director-general of the New Netherlands colonies of the Dutch West Indies Company came from city Superintendent of Schools Charles T. Epps. Epps could not be reached for comment.

Supposedly, the plan is for a statue of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to replace Stuyvesant in front of School 11, according to local merchants and history buffs. What says Epps?

Not long ago, when plans were in the works for building the Hudson County Community College's Culinary Arts Institute/Conference Center on Newkirk Avenue, some noticed that the Stuyvesant statue was depicted as being in a small triangle park by the new building. There were objections.

They argued that New Jersey's first settlement, the village of Bergen, began as an 800-square-foot fort at present day Bergen Avenue and Academy Street. The HCCC park location is outside the historic site, they argued.

There is some irony to all this.

In a New Jersey City University Web site, it is claimed the city has "the oldest continuous educational institution in the United States" dating back to the Dutch colony in the 1600s, when Bergen's school house was overseen by elders of the Dutch Reformed Church. Public education was free and funded by -- yup, property taxes. You would think the Board of Education would be glad to have Peter's statue in place.

For you buffs, the statue was unveiled on Oct. 18, 1913 and School 11 is the sixth educational building constructed at the site -- unless someone out there knows differently.

It was difficult to find someone in officialdom to respond because yesterday was furlough day for city workers and schools were closed because it was a professional day for educators. A cynic would say it was a perfect time to remove the statue. There was even snow coming to cover the deed.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/voices/index.s ... er_ri.html