Well worth reading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asser_Levy

When I worked at 42 Broadway in Lower Manhattan and ate lunch
sometimes in Bowling Green Park there was a statue there of Peter
Stuyvesant and part of the inscription underneath was "During Peter
Stuyvesant's rule of New Amersterdam, Jews were given political
rights" or something similar.

What it didnt' say is that Stuyvesant did his best to prevent that.
To find out why he failed, read the url. The statue shows how
something can be artfully phrased to give a false impression.
Remember that during election season and all the time.

The statue was there for unknown duration before and after my visits
there, but in 2002, it was no longer there. They have a warehouse
near riverside drive where they store all kinds of things from parks,
including originals of copies and copies of originals.

There is much more to the url.