This past weekend, the founder of Urban Intellectuals was in New York for an event. This gave UI an opportunity to put a live camera on Seneca Village, at least the location in Central Park. He did a live feed.

This land was stolen from land owners in 1855 via the legal system. The Government officials of New York used the powers of eminent domain to take the stretch of land from 81st to 89th Streets in Central Park’s west side.

Over 200 land owners resided in Seneca Village. almost 70% were Black people with the rest making up of Irish. Public sentiment to take the land for park space was drummed up by the media of the day in the early 1850s.

Propaganda about the land owners as squatters and on the property illegally got people to endorse the idea of just taking the land. The eminent domain process was executed in 1855.

This past weekend, we got a chance to get this footage on the actual land that was Seneca Village.

Watch Here

Here is the Seneca Village piece we did explaining the history and what happened: