In Celebration of June 16, New Yorkers commemorate Seneca . Village

Isheeka Edwards, 37, watched Sunday’s memorial service together with her two youngsters, Lesedi, 8, and Kopano, 3, as Gha’il Rhodes Benjamin, a talkative poet who leads the group to sing “This Little Mild of Mine” is on the west aspect of the park close to eighty fifth Avenue, the previous location of the third Shade Faculty in Seneca Village.

Ms. Edwards, who stated she lives in a group that’s 1.6 p.c black within the west, stated she was particularly visiting the town to have fun June 16. “Something particular is individuals. African-American or simply assembly black individuals regularly is restricted there,” she stated.

She desires her youngsters to “concentrate on that aspect of America, that historical past, their very own tradition,” she stated.

Natasha Mast, 42, who attended the occasion together with her husband and two sons, aged 7 and 11, stated she was grappling with what would occur subsequent. “Shouldn’t or not it’s returned in some way?” she requested. “That’s positively one thing I’m fascinated by and I don’t know what the best plan of action is at this level in historical past.”

Within the meantime, she plans to proceed educating herself and her youngsters about Seneca Village and June 13.