Stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, American cultural heritage consultant and activist Peggy King Jorde, and landscape architect Sara Zewde co-hosted a commemorative dinner with the Central Park Conservancy to honor the legacy of the predominantly Black middle-class community, Seneca Village. At its height from 1825 to 1857, Seneca Village was a thriving community on approximately five acres of land between West 82nd and West 89th Streets. The Conservancy situated the event on Summit Rock, the highest point in Central Park and an important part of the Seneca Village landscape for its former residents..
Guests were welcomed with a trumpet performance from musician Michael Cruse to usher them into the night. During cocktail hour, guests enjoyed beverages from Polo Bar’s head mixologist, Anthony Bates, and hors d'oeuvres from Gourmega, a zero-waste restaurant created by Bronx-born culinary collective Ghetto Gastro. All of the evening’s food and drink channeled ingredients thought to once be used by residents of Seneca Village.
Co-host Gabriella Karefa-Johnson greeted guests with welcoming remarks, followed by Jessica MacLean, the Conservancy’s Director of Public History, and celebrated historian Cynthia Copeland, who shared further context on Seneca Village and Central Park Conservancy’s research and commemoration efforts. Acclaimed musician and actor, DeWitt Fleming Jr. delivered a riveting performance as Andrew Williams, a former resident of Seneca Village.
Notable attendees also included Shiona Turini, Rachel Scott, New York City Councilmember Yusef Salaam, State Senator Cordell Cleare, Lindsay Peoples, Nikki Ogunnaike, Doreen St. Felix, Denise Murrell, Cynthia Horner, Akilah Hughes, and more.
Peggy King Jorde opened the dinner by asking guests to connect their own creative and cultural pursuits with the history of Seneca Village. While guests relished in the delicious flavors of the three-course meal curated by Gourmega, Sara Zewde shared her reflections on Juneteenth. The dinner concluded with a reading of James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain by Central Park Conservancy’s Director of Community Engagement, John Reddick. In the excerpt, Baldwin describes discovering Summit Rock as a young man, walking through Central Park.
Image credit: Rebecca Smeyne
