Pols Say They’ll Pony Up Funds for African Burial Ground Memorial
A group of Queens elected officials say they’re determined to find funding for the city to purchase the Elmhurst site of a historic Black cemetery and turn it into a memorial to the freed slaves buried there. Queens Bor…
A group of Queens elected officials say they’re determined to find funding for the city to purchase the Elmhurst site of a historic Black cemetery and turn it into a memorial to the freed slaves buried there.
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A group of Queens elected officials say they’re determined to find funding for the city to purchase the Elmhurst site of a historic Black cemetery and turn it into a memorial to the freed slaves buried there.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. recently called on the administration of Mayor Zohran Mamdani to step up and buy the plot at 47-11 90th St., where the owners paved over sacred ground to put up a parking lot.
Abandoned vehicles towed in an NYPD program wound up littering the site. The mayor has so far remained noncommittal, saying only that the city Landmarks Preservation Commission needs to first decide whether to landmark the lot.
Asked by The City Reporter last week about the drumbeat of officials and community leaders calling for the city to purchase the site, he responded, “That is a conversation that’s ongoing.
We’ll be sure to get back to you.” Richards, on the other hand, says he’s all in on finding funding necessary to buy the site and create some type of memorial to honor those who are buried there.
“I am committed. I have a $120 million budget,” he said, noting a similar project to erect a Holocaust memorial on the grounds of Queens Borough Hall for which he’s allocated $3 million.
FAQ
What happened?
A group of Queens elected officials say they’re determined to find funding for the city to purchase the Elmhurst site of a historic Black cemetery and turn it into a memorial to the freed slaves buried there.
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