Elected officials, community advocates fight to preserve Elmhurst burial ground housing remains of hundreds of freed slaves

The burial ground, located on a parcel of land at 47-11 90th St. in Elmhurst, dates back to 1818, nine years before New York fully abolished slavery. In 1828, one year after slavery was abolished in the state, a group of freed slaves formed the United African Society of Newtown and built a church near the site, formalizing a local burial ground that had been used for at least a decade prior.

The group later became St. Mark African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and owned the property until 1925, when the city used eminent domain to widen the nearby Union Avenue (now Corona Avenue). The church relocated a mile away to Jackson Heights and the burial ground was eventually forgotten after being disturbed and altered by several developments in the area.

In 2011, construction workers preparing to build condos at the property uncovered the 160-year-old remains of a woman when the operator of a backhoe shattered through an iron casket and dragged her body out of the earth. Initially believed to have been a homicide victim because her remains had been so well preserved, the woman was eventually identified as a freed slave who died of smallpox during the mid-19th century.

The discovery — and the subsequent discovery of the remains of up to 300 people at the site — kickstarted a 15-year campaign to secure a permanent memorial at the lot, which has most recently been used by the NYPD to store old cars, according to elected officials.

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards renewed efforts to secure a memorial Friday afternoon, convening a large number of elected officials, local advocates and historians to call on the city to acquire the site, which is currently heading toward a court-ordered foreclosure sale.

Richards was joined by U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, State Sens. Jessica Ramos and Leroy Comrie, and Council Members Shanel Thomas-Henry and Shekar Krishnan for the event. Rev. Kimberly Detherage of St. Mark AME, Community Board 4 Chair Marialena Giampino, Vice President of the Newtown Civic Association James McMenamin and Marc Landas, president of historical preservation group the Ghosts of Newtown Project, also joined the event.

Attorney general moves to preserve burial ground

The event took place hours after New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that she had moved to protect the burial ground from further disturbance by seeking a court order that would require any prospective buyer to be notified of the human remains at the site and their legal obligations to protect them before they can take ownership.

Several years ago, site owner 90 Queens, Inc. defaulted on its mortgage and the party who later acquired that mortgage – 90 Street Realty, LLC – is now proceeding with a foreclosure action against the property. The property is expected to be sold at a public auction.

Richards said Friday that the city has an obligation to acquire the site, stating that the individuals buried there have been “shackled underground” by the constant disturbances at the site, which was paved over by 90 Queens, Inc in 2025. The city’s Department of Buildings deemed the action illegal and ordered that the parking lot be shut down, issuing multiple violations against the owner for illegally using the site as a parking and storage lot.

“They achieved their freedom in their earthly life, but in death, their memories have been shackled underground by time and forgotten by those who came after them,” Richards said. “This injustice is unacceptable…. The freed slaves buried here survived unimaginable hardship and overcame the most vile form of inhumanity. Their lives and their struggles deserve to be memorialized and remembered.” 

Richards said he is calling for the lot to be transformed into a public space with a “dignified memorial” for those buried there, adding that he is calling on the city to follow the example of the Old Towne of Flushing Burial Ground, which was memorialized in 2021 to honor hundreds of African American and Native American people buried there.

Any memorial at the site must be community led, Richards added, stating that St. Mark AME must be central in the community visioning process.

“The church, myself, and so many others want this space to truly be reflective of the needs and desires of our communities, and the only way to make that happen is to get the community input into the design process from day one,” he said.

Detherage, meanwhile, said she was “devastated” when she learned that the NYPD was allowing parked cars to be stored above the burial ground, asserting that the erasure of the burial ground stood as proof that the contributions of African-American communities are “still being ignored.”

Renewed calls for burial ground to be landmarked

Detherage alleged that the church had reached an agreement with the developer of the site in 2019 to allow archaeologists survey the site. The deal also included plans for a memorial site and educational center at any property built at the site, she added.

However, she said the developer “disappeared” and the plans fell through. In 2018, the church also attempted to landmark the site through the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). Detherage, however, said the effort failed because St. Mark had been working with the developer to build a memorial at the site, stating that the church could landmark the site or work with the developer, but not both.

Detherage, local historians and elected officials have now renewed calls for the site to be landmarked, with the Elmhurst History and Cemeteries Preservation Society filing a Request for Evaluation with the LPC in August. LPC is currently reviewing the request.

“How can this not be landmarked?” CB4 Chair Marialena Giampino said. “How can this not be protected in perpetuity?”

Cruz, meanwhile, said it is time to “right this wrong,” adding that it is “disgusting and outrageous” that the site was used to store old cars.

“We’re ready to stand with the city to make sure that this goes back to what it always should have been, a memorial site of the history of Elmhurst, of the history of Newtown, so that the folks who made this community what it is are respected, are revered,” Cruz said. 

Meng said a memorial at the site is “overdue,” stating that it is “unacceptable” that the site was neglected before being paved over in 2025.

“It has disrespected the human remains of some 300 people who overcame such monumental adversity, and we cannot let their memories be forgotten about and tossed away,” Meng said. 

Krishnan added that creating a memorial at the site is the “right thing to do,” accusing the current owners of turning a “blind eye and a deaf ear” to the voices of the community calling on the site to be preserved.

“It is the only right thing for the city and the parks department to come forward to purchase this land and preserve it,” Krishnan said in a statement. “It is unjust to not treat the hundreds of formerly enslaved people at this burial ground with the dignity they deserve.” 

James, in her move to preserve the site, has filed a motion to intervene in the pending foreclosure action, seeking a court order that would require any prospective buyer to be notified of the human remains at the site and their legal obligations to protect them before they can take ownership.

“Every New Yorker deserves to rest in peace, and that includes the people buried on this land generations ago,” James said in a statement. “My office will not allow a foreclosure sale to become yet another disrespectful event in this burial ground’s unjustly troubled history. We are going to court to make sure whoever buys this property knows exactly who is buried there and is aware of their legal obligation to protect them.”

Under the New York Unmarked Burial Sites Act, enacted in 2023, it is illegal for anyone who discovers a burial site to remove, relocate, handle, or otherwise disturb human remains found at a site until specific legal procedures for identifying and notifying descendants and culturally affiliated groups are completed. James is authorized to take legal action against anyone who violates the law, which carries potential criminal penalties.

Richards, meanwhile, noted that the Department of Buildings has announced that it will not renew its contract allowing the NYPD to store cars at the site this November. The site is currently fenced off and free of parked cars.

Mamdani administration ‘aware’ of concerns

Matt Rauschenbach, a spokesperson for Mayor Zohran Mamdani, said the administration understands concerns over the site, which he said represents an important and complex period of Black history.

“The Department of Buildings has taken strong enforcement actions and secured a stipulation from the owner and the commercial tenant to cease their inappropriate and illegal operations by the end of November, and we are prepared to take additional action if they fail to live up to that agreement,” Rauschenbach said in a statement.

Richards called on the LPC to “move fast” to landmark the site, encouraging the agency to cut through bureaucratic red tape.

“We know it’s a process, but let’s not slow walk this. Let’s not let this get caught up in bureaucracy. These are bodies, our bodies, our ancestors,” he said. 

Richards said no assessment has been conducted to ascertain the value of the site but estimated that it would cost millions of dollars to purchase.

“No matter who purchases this, we ask that they respect the bodies,” Richards said. “But we call on the city to do it. We trust the city to do it. We want the Parks Department to oversee this site.”