Harlem African Burial Ground Project Begins: City Accepting Bids

HARLEM, NY — The city is starting to accept bids for a long-planned project to redevelop the former 126th Street bus depot into a memorial for a historic African burial ground and a large mixed-use development, city officials announced Monday.

The New York City Economic Development Corporation is kicking off the process with a "Request for Expressions of Interest" for the 18,000-square-foot memorial on East 126th Street between First and Second avenues. The city agency is looking to partner with a nonprofit or cultural organization to operate the memorial and an associated cultural center after its built, according to Monday's announcement.

Organizations interested in operating the cultural center would be responsible for programs such as arranging workshops, organizing speaking events and promoting visiting scholars studying topics such as the arts, culture, literacy and social justice. City officials envision a facility that may include a visitors center, exhibition space and community events space.

"The Harlem African Burial Ground Memorial and Cultural Education Center will honor East Harlem as a sacred place of historical learning and serve as an inspiration for both residents and visitors alike," EDC President and CEO James Patchett said in a statement.

The burial site's origins go back to when Harlem was just a village under Dutch rule in the 17th century. Back then, Harlem was known as "Nieuw Haarlem" and the Low Dutch Reformed Church of Harlem maintained separate cemeteries for people of European and African descent.

A 200 excavation at the bus depot site unearthed evidence of the forgotten burial ground, city officials said. After the discovery, the city established a Harlem African Burial Ground Task Force to decide on how to best re-develop the site while memorializing those who were buried there.

"Notions about American life and history are incomplete without knowledge of a rich and compelling American narrative that has been lost for over three centuries,"Sharon Wilkins, a member of the task force, said in a statement. "This history involves the sacrifices, struggles, contributions and achievements of free and enslaved Africans who played a significant role in creating the infrastructure, culture, society and economy of the United States."

The City Council voted in 2017 to approve the redevelopment of the existing bus depot into giant mixed-use development with a memorial to the burial site. The memorial will be located where the site of the original burial ground was, and no development will overlap with the site, city officials said. As part of the vote, the block was rezoned to accommodate a development containing up to 655,215 square feet of residential space, 315,000 square feet of commercial space, 30,000 square feet of community space and 18,000 square feet dedicated to the outdoor memorial.

Including parking, the entire development will span 1,090,215 square feet, according to an Environmental Impact Statement. The city is expected to launch a "Request for Proposals" later this year in search of a development partner for the project.

An estimated 80 percent of the apartment units constructed in the development will be rent restricted, an EDC spokesman said. The EDC announced in March that 20 percent of the new units will be offered at "deep" affordability. Those units will be offered at 30 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI), or an annual income of $24,500 for a family of three, officials said.