Community activists are hoping that planned construction projects won't disturb the remains of African slaves buried in a long-forgotten 17th century cemetery underneath an MTA bus depot on East 126th Street. With the MTA planning to replace the bus facility and the city renovating the nearby Willis Avenue Bridge, locals are trying to preserve the graveyard in an effort to keep the burial ground from being desecrated. more ›

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a burn victim on East 3rd St. and Beverly Rd. in Brooklyn, a shooting on Francis Lewis Blvd. in Queens, and a burn victim on 103rd St. and Park Ave. in Manhattan. Reps for the New York Philharmonic are investigating a planned appearance of the symphony in North Korea. Those excited by news of a George Clooney sighting in Brooklyn Heights yesterday can just go ahead and get giddy... more ›

A memorial to thousands of people buried in downtown Manhattan will open to the public Friday at 1 p.m., and there will be a candlelight procession at 8 p.m. from Battery Park to the monument at Duane and Elk Sts. The African Burial Ground National Monument is set to open 16 years after construction workers discovered human remains while doing foundation work on a downtown federal building. more ›

- And some numbers about the Oscars from Dan Dickinson more ›

Gothamist has been sucked in to the History Channel's documentaries about the gangs of New York recently. Being history buffs, we want to learn more, but how do we do that without having to watch the Scorsese film again (which omitted a lot of facts)? With the Big Onion Walking Tours! more ›

While federal officials finally selected a memorial design for the African Burial Ground, a Duane Street site where thousands of African-American skeletal remainds were found, many people were unhappy with the decision. Some heckled officials, complaining that the selected design by Rodney Leon of AARRIS Architects (rendering above) is too large and overwhelms the 5-acre plot. A preferred design is one by Cheryl McKissack of McKissack & McKissack, which leaves more of the ground in tact by having displays around the grounds. The opposition comes from the Committee of the Descendants of the Afrikan Ancestral Burial Ground, which claims that nothing was supposed to be built on the ground; supporters of the design, which include Representative Charles Rangel and Howard Dodson, told the Times "There's never been any question about whether or not a memorial should go on the site." There will probably be further discussions about which design is better, but given that it's been over a decade since the site has been found, it just goes to show that planning a memorial is a complex process, full of many opinions.
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Gothamist keeps seeing these flyers around our neighborhood, so we wanted to pass on the information to you. This photo was taken for you, the reader, at around 2am this morning... more ›