KINGSTON- The Kingston Common Council voted this week to replace the bronze statues of Henry Hudson, Peter Stuyvesant and George Clinton following an online petition to remove them as “symbols of white supremacy.”
According to the petition:
Peter Stuyvesant tried to eject Jewish refugees fleeing persecution, calling them a “deceitful race.”
New York’s governor George Clinton owned eight enslaved African Americans.
Henry Hudson colonized the Lenape territory for the Dutch East India Company.
After debating which historical figures would make more appropriate substitutes and failing to come to a consensus, lawmakers decided to erect a statue of The Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM), a deity of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or Pastafarianism.
The old statues, prior to be disposed of in a bonfire at Pesto Gardens
The city’s corporation counsel recommended the action after it found that the FSM had previously defused controversies over statue placements in other municipalities.
The city also voted to change Clinton Avenue (named for George Clinton) to “Meatball Lane,” Hasbrouck Park (named for an early settler family that owned slaves) was rededicated “Pesto Gardens,” and the T.R. Gallo Waterfront Park was rechristened “Linguine Quay.”
Asked what the fault was of the former mayor, alderwoman Michelle Shrek said, “We’re not sure, but we might as well change it just to be safe.”
“Just please, don’t call us racist anymore,” she added. “Maybe go after Saugerties? Or Rhinebeck?”
