Elmhurst Burial Ground to Become Memorial | New York City News

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards is rallying to turn a controversial Elmhurst parking lot—sitting atop an old African American burial ground—into a memorial for hundreds of enslaved and formerly enslaved New Yorkers. The land, once owned by St. Mark AME Church in the 1800s and later abandoned after foreclosure, was briefly used for a luxury condo project that unearthed an iron coffin containing the remains of a woman from 1850. After the developer vanished, the site was paved over and deemed illegal by the city. Now, with a November deadline to shut it down, Richards plans a press conference to push for a green memorial park honoring this hidden history, echoing efforts to preserve and celebrate forgotten ancestral sites across NYC. Listen in comfort:Get a discount on a Soli Pillow: http://solipillow.com/discount/dnn. Advertise on DNN:[email protected] This is an automated, high-level news summary based on public reporting.Report issues to [email protected]. View sources & latest updates:https://sources.thednn.ai/75bc42141927ce4f