{"id":337955,"date":"2026-09-04T12:04:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T12:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/337955\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T12:04:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T12:04:48","slug":"new-push-to-landmark-paved-over-queens-african-burial-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/337955\/","title":{"rendered":"New Push to Landmark Paved-Over Queens African Burial Ground"},"content":{"rendered":"

The city Landmarks Preservation Commission is evaluating a new proposal to protect the site of a 19th century burial ground for Black New Yorkers that was turned into a parking lot<\/a> by an anonymous property developer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last week the Elmhurst History and Cemeteries Preservation Society and the pastor of St. Mark African Methodist Episcopal Church filed a \u201crequest for evaluation\u201d asking the commission to designate the property a landmark, which would greatly restrict development there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe right thing needs to be done to protect and let the cemetery finally prevail and be respected. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission must act to landmark this site,\u201d the group asserted in documents obtained by The City Reporter via a Freedom of Information request.<\/p>\n

The application comes as St. Mark\u2019s pastor, Rev. Kimberly Detherage,<\/a> and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr., have called on the city to purchase the property and turn it into a memorial<\/a> to honor those who are buried there, including as many as 300 enslaved and formerly enslaved residents of a 19th century Black enclave known as Newtown.<\/p>\n

Mamdani Mum on Cemetery<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Matthew Rauschenbach, a spokesperson for Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a>, declined to address the call to buy the lot, but acknowledged the site\u2019s historical significance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand the concerns about this site, which reflects an important and complex period of Black history in this city following the abolition of slavery in New York State in 1827,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have heard the calls to formally designate the site as a New York City landmark. The LPC is an independent entity, and I would refer you to them for next steps in this important process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MembersAn image from the excavation of remains in an iron coffin from an Elmhurst, Queens, lot that once held the cemetery of the St. Mark AME Church, where enslaved and freed New Yorkers had been buried. Credit: Courtesy of St. Marks AME Church<\/p>\n

The cemetery at what is now 47-11 90th St. is believed to date to 1818, nine years before slavery was abolished in New York. In 1828, a year after New York\u2019s emancipation went into effect, a group of freed slaves formed the United African Society and purchased the property. The group later became the St. Marks AME, which sold the property in the 1930s and moved to Jackson Heights, but currently maintains some stewardship over the burial ground.<\/p>\n

The most recent owner, a limited liability corporation called 90 Queens LLC, tried building luxury condos there but in 2011the project was put on hold when workers excavating the site unearthed an iron coffin containing the remains of a free-born Black woman who had likely died of smallpox. Subsequent archaeological exploration of the site turned up the remains of 10 more individuals who were disinterred and remain in secure storage offsite.<\/p>\n

The owner walked away from the condo project and last year paved over the site to use it as a parking lot. Last month The City Reporter visited the site and found dozens of junked vehicles there, including several that were brought there by a vendor hired by the NYPD<\/a> to tow abandoned vehicles off city streets.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn Elmhurst, Queens, parking lot sits atop the former cemetery of the St. Mark AME Church, where an estimated 290 people are buried. Aug. 17, 2026. Credit: Alex Krales\/The City Reporter<\/p>\n

The Department of Buildings<\/a> earlier this year declared the parking lot illegal, and ordered it shut down by Nov. 30. In 2022, a bank filed a lawsuit to foreclose on the property after it alleged 90 Queens LLC had failed to make any mortgage payments. The bank later sold the loan to another entity, 90 Street Realty LLC, and the judge handling the foreclosure case appointed a referee to dispose of the property. The referee last month announced his intention to sell the site.<\/p>\n

\u2018Glossed Over\u2019 <\/p>\n

The property, however, is subject to the state Unmarked Burial Site Protection Act, which requires the owners to properly address burial sites before developing their property.<\/p>\n

In their request for a landmark designation, the Elmhurst historical group and Rev. Detherage noted the existence of two other African burial grounds that have been landmarked by the LPC: the Jacob Rodman Drake Park and Enslaved People\u2019s Burial Ground<\/a> in Hunts Point, the Bronx, and the Frederick Douglass Memorial Park<\/a> in Oakwood Heights, Staten Island.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy was this not the case for the African Methodist Episcopal Church Cemetery-Newtown African American Burial Ground?\u201d they asked. \u201cHow could this have just been glossed over? The Landmarks Preservation Commission should have acted back then which would have changed the terrible and disrespectful events that followed.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE: Pastor Calls for Remains of Freed Slaves to Be Reinterred, Urges City to Landmark Site<\/a><\/p>\n

Landmarks spokesperson Courtney Metakis confirmed that the agency had received the group\u2019s request on Aug. 28, which triggered an evaluation to see if the site is eligible for landmark status.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf LPC determines that the landmark suggested \u2018may merit\u2019 consideration, it will be added to the agency\u2019s survey list and considered in the context of agency priorities,\u201d she wrote in an email.<\/p>\n

The commission, which is overseen by an 11-member board of mayoral appointees, considers a variety of factors, including a site\u2019s cultural significance and \u201chow it aligns with agency policies.\u201d The commission has adopted what it calls an \u201cEquity Framework,\u201d seeking to prioritize \u201cdesignations that represent New York City\u2019s diversity or are located in areas of the City less represented by landmarks.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there are landmarked properties all over Manhattan and along much of Brooklyn\u2019s waterfront, there are almost no landmarked properties in Elmhurst, with the exception of the architecturally impressive Newtown High School and two nearby churches that are hundreds of years old: the Reformed Dutch Church (1831) and Old Saint James Episcopal parish hall (1735).<\/p>\n

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