ELMHURST, Queens — It had been a burial ground for enslaved Africans who’d bought their freedom or had been born free two centuries ago.
Over time, though, discrimination, greed, and neglect had left it an empty lot. On Friday, a variety of elected officials, community activists, historians, and local residents assembled at the plot of land to call on the city to landmark and preserve it. Doing so, they said, will take time and money.
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Whether or not the city will invest in either is an open question, but people at a rally and news conference at the site on 90th Street near Corona Avenue said that they’re cautiously optimistic.
Queens Borough President Donavan Richards had convened the news conference, which was attended by multiple city councilmembers, as well as members of the New York State Legislature, and the local community board, among others.
The roughly one-acre lot next to Long Island Rail Road tracks had been the cemetery for an African American church in 1828. However, because of development in the community during the 1800s, the church was relocated about a mile away.
All that’s remained of what had been a vibrant free Black community is the former burial ground lot. The gathered leaders, activists, and local residents prayed outside of the gated lot on Friday after the news conference.
The site had been slated to become a condominium 15 years ago, but when digging began during construction, a casket made of iron, with an African American woman’s body inside, was found. It brought construction work to a halt.
Over the last few years, the site has been a parking lot for damaged or confiscated cars.
Now, however, said Rev. Kimberly Detheridge, pastor of the St. Mark’s AME Church, which had historically owned the lot, “We want the city to purchase the land. We want to have some type of memorial site.”
Borough President Richards magnified the pastor’s comments.
“The city should not allow these 300 souls and their bodies to be auctioned off our ancestors,” he said.
His comments were a reminder that the property is currently headed to a foreclosure auction. Everyone who had gathered at the site on Friday said that they want the city to place the highest bid.
Also, on Friday, their efforts got an assist from New York State Attorney General Letitia James.
On Friday morning, she filed a motion in court that would require legal protection for any human remains on the site by anyone who purchases it.
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Whether or not that will be the city, the Mamdani Administration is not saying. The mayor’s office has confirmed one thing that Borough President Richards said about the mayor’s involvement: he is aware of the situation and is supportive of the site’s preservation. It is not clear at this juncture what the mayor’s next steps will be.
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