Site Of Historic Burial Ground Selling For $14 Million

ELMHURST, QUEENS — A plot of land that contains a historic burial ground has quietly hit the market for nearly $14 million.

Nearly 200 years ago, this unassuming back lot in Elmhurst was home to the United African Society of Newtown and its cemetery, believed to be the final resting place of hundreds of newly-freed African Americans.

The lot at 47-11 90th St. is now a battleground for local preservationists, who hope to ward off development plans by making the site a historical landmark.

When a developer filed permits last year to put up a five-story building there, the nonprofit Elmhurst Histories and Cemeteries Preservations Society responded by asking the Landmarks Preservation Commission to preserve the burial ground.

The site had faded into obscurity for decades until 2011, when a construction crew unearthed the remains of an African American woman who died of smallpox in the 1850s.

"It's really telling a story of our early history and how far we've come ... as a city," the nonprofit's president, Marialena Giampino, said by phone. "We need to think more carefully on what we're losing."

The request is currently under review, a Landmarks Preservation Commission spokeswoman told Patch.

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In the months since, the parcel of land hit the market for $13.8 million. A Cushman & Wakefield brochure for the property makes no mention of the burial site.

"The location of the lot is ideal for residential development," the brochure reads.

A spokesman for the real estate group declined to comment, but realtor Stephen Preuss confirmed the property is currently for sale. The listing was first reported Sunday on the blog Queens Crap.

The United African Society of Newtown became St. Mark's A.M.E. Church, which moved to North Corona in the 1920s and left the cemetery behind; the city wouldn't allow the church to relocate the remains. But the church is still responsible for the human remains. The church's pastor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission deemed the area an archaeological site, meaning the property's owner has to excavate it before building anything, a commission spokeswoman said.

The Cushman & Wakefield brochure does not mention the required archeological work that must precede any future development. A spokesman for the realty group declined to comment on the omission.

The property's current owner, Chinese developer Bo Jin Zhu of 90 Queens Inc., bought the lot in 2009 for $5.8 million, real estate and corporation records show.