Homeless Shelter Plan For Inwood African Burial Ground Advances

INWOOD, NY — The first public meeting about plans to build a homeless shelter on a piece of land in Inwood formerly used as a cemetery for enslaved Africans will take place on Tuesday.

The meeting will also address the ceremonial pits of the Lenape people adjacent to the plot of land.

The meeting will be held by the Bowery Residents' Committee, a nonprofit that provides housing services to vulnerable New Yorkers which is in the process of purchasing the plot of land at 10th Avenue and 212th Street.

However, the space is currently an auto parts lot and representatives of the nonprofit said they didn't know about its historical and cultural significance when they started the process of buying it.

After being informed by Upper Manhattan community stakeholders, the Bowery Residents' Committee paused its purchase and filed an extension while it considered if it will continue with the development plans.

In recent months, the nonprofit hosted three co-sponsored listening sessions with the Manhattan Borough President's Office and the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum to hear more from the community about the subject.

Now that the listening sessions are over, the Bowery Residents' Committee said it's set to move forward with the construction of the homeless shelter at 10th Avenue and 212th Street while also showing "respect and dignity for Indigenous and African people and their descendants."

"In listening to the community, BRC now believes there is a unique opportunity to both move forward with the building of a shelter in keeping with the city's needs and BRC's mission, and also reclaim the site's significance, respect and dignity for Indigenous and African people and their descendants," Bowery Residents' Committee wrote in a description for Tuesday's public meeting.

The nonprofit wrote that the public meeting is for those who have demonstrated interest in commemorating the site's connection to the history of a burial ground for enslaved African people and anybody who participated in one of the three previous listening sessions.

Much of the conversation in those listening sessions centered around how the nonprofit could incorporate a tribute to the land's history within its shelter development if it was built.

During the past few months, the Advisory Group for the Inwood Sacred Site (AGISS) was also formed to provide recommendations to the Bowery Residents' Committee regarding how to "best develop the site in a way that appropriately honors the African and Indigenous peoples who once lived and honored the land."

The Advisory Group for the Inwood Sacred Site is compromised of African and Indigenous peoples, Inwood's community residents and leaders, historians, advocates, BRC staff — and is chaired by Meredith Horsford, the Executive Director of the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum.

The public meeting Tuesday will begin at 10 a.m. You can sign up for it here.

Read More:

• Homeless Shelter Considered For Inwood African Burial Ground