A neighborhood that used to exist directly under New York’s famous Central Park has a little known tragic backstory.
If you’ve ever visited the Big Apple, you’ll probably have had a wander around Central Park.
The iconic staple of the city is a must-see for any tourist wanting to live like a New Yorker for the day.
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But what you might not know is that beneath the pathways, grass, and the famous lake, there’s a former neighborhood with a lot of history.
The park hasn’t always been a hotspot for tourism, in fact, the land was once part of New York countryside long before skyscrapers towered around it.
The area was once home to around 1,600 people which included a large Black community who developed homes, churches and a school.
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This development drew in more residents, including Irish and German immigrants who lived alongside the residing community.
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The area between 82nd and 89th Streets and Seventh and Eighth Avenues came to be known as Seneca Village in 1825.
According to the Institute for the Exploration of Seneca Village History, Seneca Village had become “a multi-ethnic community [including] African Americans, Irish, and German immigrants, and perhaps a few Native Americans” by the 1840s, and in 1855 the New York State Census reported approximately 264 individuals living in the village.
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However, in spite of all of the work that had been done, New York City was able to take control of the land on 21 July, 1853, due to eminent domain - a power which allows the federal government to acquire property for public use.
The US Department of Justice explains the eminent domain “appertains to every independent government” and “requires no constitutional recognition”.
Once they had control of the land, New York City dubbed it “the Central Park”.
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In a bid to learn more about the history of the land beneath the park, archaeologists conducted excavations at Seneca Village in the summer of 2011, following research on the site which began years prior.
Today, Central Park covers a space of 843 acres and welcomes more than 42 million visitors annually. The City of New York has enlisted the help of the Central Park Conservancy to help care for the park, with more than 300 Conservancy employees working to tend to the park's “maintenance, restoration, and architectural needs”.
The conservancy spends as much as nearly $78 million each year into “protecting and improving” the park, with the money coming “primarily by individual donations”.