For another, Central Park's development was only possible because of the forced displacement of Seneca Village, Manhattan's first significant settlement of Black property owners.

The village destroyed to build Central Park was Seneca Village, a thriving community of free African-American property owners and Irish and German immigrants. Founded in 1825 near what is now 82nd to 89th Street and Seventh and Eighth Avenues, it was the first community of its kind in New York City, featuring three churches, a school, and more than 50 homes. In 1857, the city used eminent domain to forcibly evict the residents and demolish the village to make way for the construction of Central Park. For over a century, the history of this community was largely forgotten or dismissed by city planners, but in recent years, archaeological digs and public memorials have brought the story of Seneca Village back to light, highlighting a significant and tragic chapter in the history of urban development and social displacement in New York.