History of Black Displacement: A Look at Seneca Village

171 years ago today, New York City gave birth to Central Park by declaring eminent domain over Seneca Village. This predominantly African American community offered a rural respite from Downtown Manhattan’s crowded and racially tense environment. The city forcibly removed the community’s residents about four years later.

Bordered by 82nd and 89th Streets and Seventh and Eighth Avenues, Seneca Village was the first community of African American property owners in Manhattan — a status that gave Black men the right to vote, as outlined by New York State’s constitution. The presence of two schools, three churches, and farmland used by residents to raise livestock underscores the village’s middle-class status and counters the dishonest narrative that Seneca Village was a community of squatters.

Remembering the destruction of Seneca Village offers a somber reflection of Black and Brown community members removed from their neighborhoods through decades of racist government policies, housing scams like deed theft, gentrification fueled by speculative investing, and even violence. We will explore this history of displacement in future posts.

Seneca Village’s fate also reinforces a reason why our organization exists.