DESIGNATION REPORT Frederick Douglass Memorial Park Landmarks Preservation Designation Report Designation List 541 Commission Frederick Douglass Memorial Park LP-2682 June 18, 2024

DESIGNATION REPORT Frederick Douglass Memorial Park LOCATION Borough of Staten Island 3201 Amboy Road LANDMARK TYPE Individual SIGNIFICANCE The Frederick Douglass Memorial Park is the only extant, non-sectarian cemetery in New York City that was founded by and for African Americans at a time when discrimination and segregation excluded them from other cemeteries. Landmarks Preservation Designation Report Designation List 541 Commission Frederick Douglass Memorial Park LP-2682 June 18, 2024

Entrance to Frederick Douglass Memorial Park c. 1935 Courtesy Frederick Douglass Memorial Park, Inc. LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COMMISSION COMMISSIONERS Lisa Kersavage, Executive Director Sarah Carroll, Chair Mark Silberman, General Counsel Frederick Bland, Vice Chair Timothy Frye, Director of Special Projects Diana Chapin Kate Lemos McHale, Director of Research Wellington Chen Cory Herrala, Director of Preservation Stephen Chu Mark Ginsberg Michael Goldblum REPORT BY Everardo Jefferson Marianne R. Hurley, Research Department Jeanne Lutfy Angie Master RESEARCH ASSISTANCE Michael Caratzas and Tara Harrison EDITED BY Kate Lemos McHale and Margaret E. Herman PHOTOGRAPHS BY Marianne R. Hurley Landmarks Preservation Designation Report Designation List 541 Commission Frederick Douglass Memorial Park LP-2682 June 18, 2024 3 of 29

Frederick Douglass Memorial Park from New York City Council Members David M. Carr of District 50, Joseph C. Borelli, Minority 3201 Amboy Road Leader, and Kamillah M. Hanks; and letters from Staten Island representatives of the Richmond County Black and Minority Chamber of Commerce; the Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project; the Commandment Pillar, an Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation in Harlem; Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority; and an individual. The Commission received no written submissions in Designation List 541 opposition to the proposed designation. LP-2682 Opened: 1935 Landmark Site: Borough of Staten Island Tax Map Block 4475, Lot 300 Building Identification Number (BIN): 5060906 Calendared: March 19, 2024 Public Hearing: May 21, 2024 On May 21, 2024, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation of Frederick Douglass Memorial Park as a New York City Landmark and the proposed designation of the related Landmark Site (Item No. 2). The hearing was duly advertised in accordance with the provisions of the law. Five people testified in support of the proposed designation, including both the President, Brandon Stradford, and the Secretary, Lynn Cuffee, of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Park, Inc., Board of Directors; Kamillah M. Hanks, New York City Council Member of District 49 and Chair of the Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Sitings, and Dispositions; and representatives of the New York Landmarks Conservancy and Historic Districts Council. No one spoke in opposition. The Commission also received eight letters in support of designation, including letters from two members of the Frederick Douglass Memorial Park, Inc., Board of Directors; a joint letter Landmarks Preservation Designation Report Designation List 541 Commission Frederick Douglass Memorial Park LP-2682 June 18, 2024 4 of 29

Summary sheltering trees. When built, the memorial park also incorporated the latest engineering and landscape Frederick Douglass Memorial Park features with modern watering and drainage systems. Today the cemetery retains its original acreage, roadways, and now-mature landscaping. It is also experiencing a renewed effort to expand services and to improve the condition of its office building and Frederick Douglass Memorial Park at 3201 Amboy grounds. Road in the Oakwood Heights neighborhood of The impressive monument to the park’s Staten Island is historically significant as the only namesake, Frederick Douglass, was ded

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