By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
HARLEM — Plans to preserve a colonial-era African burial ground in Harlem will move forward Friday with a public hearing to discuss recognizing the site as a national historic landmark.
State Sens. Jose M. Serrano and Bill Perkins will hold a hearing at 2 p.m. at the Elmendorf Reformed Church, located at 171 E. 121st St., to discuss the possibility of landmarking the burial ground at First Avenue and 126th Street.
Rev. Patricia Singletary, the pastor at Elmendorf, formed a task force aimed at preserving the burial ground after the Department of Transportation began an expansion project on the property, which is on the former site of the church.
Currently, the site of the 17th-century cemetery serves as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's 126th Street Bus Depot, which was built over the burial ground and is looking to expand.
Federal landmark status would add certain protections to the site with construction ongoing, said Yvonne Trzybyla, Sen. Serrano's chief of staff.
"Right now we're working with the MTA and the DOT to make sure whatever is done in the area does not damage whatever human remains are there," Trzybyla said.
