Coming together over a Zoom conference last week, Community Board 7 welcomed CB10 Park’s Chair, Karen Horry, who delivered a presentation on the concept of a permanent exhibit in Central Park dedicated to the “Exonerated Five,” formerly known as the “Central Park Five.”
During the presentation, Horry outlined the goals of the exhibit: “To inform, engage and activate the public in building a path to healing for Black and Latinx communities in Harlem, the Nation and throughout the world.” Horry also advocated for education over incarceration, and the eradication of the school-to-prison pipeline that has a huge impact on her community.
Horry suggested the ideal location for the exhibit would be at 110th and Fifth Avenue. This would be on the route the ‘Exonerated Five’ would have entered the park through in 1989, when they were first arrested. It also allows accessibility to park visitors and the site is minimally intrusive to the integrity of the park setting.
On October 23rd, Horry and her team submitted a Statement of Objectives and Goals to Central Park Conservancy and New York City Parks with the support of the Mayor’s office. They’re awaiting their feedback on approval and next steps as they build support while meeting with Manhattan Community Boards.
This mission has gained the approval of the Harlem Community Board. Horry said on the Zoom they also have letters of support from Community Boards 11, 4, 9 and 2. They recently presented to CB8 and are planning presentations for CB5, 12, 1 and 3.
‘The Exonerated Five’ were wrongly convicted of sexually assaulting a white woman in Central Park in 1989.
Here’s a video of the CB7 presentation:
That would be insane. They may have been falsely accused of rape but they were still there doing very bad things in the park that night. The idea that they’re somehow heroes is completely absurd.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/06/29/when-they-see-us-tells-important-story-central-park-five-heres-what-it-leaves-out/
A lot of people were assaulted in the park that night and the CP5 were part of it. Two of them made statements with their family members there that they simulated raping Tricia Meili after she was beaten, stripped naked and molested:
“Salaam, Santana and McCray were tried jointly. After eight weeks of testimony, the jury deliberated for 10 days before convicting all three on the first-degree assault and first-degree rape of Meili, three charges of assault and the first-degree robbery of Loughlin, the second-degree assault of Lewis and first-degree riot. All three were acquitted of the attempted murder and first-degree sodomy of Meili.
Richardson and Wise’s trial began two months after the others’ verdict. The jury deliberated for 11 days before convicting Richardson on all 13 counts. Wise was convicted on the first-degree assault and first-degree sexual abuse of Meili and of first-degree riot. He was acquitted of all remaining charges.”
Well it’s about time! I for one will be happy to see a tribute that honors these young men. They are examples of how the systemic racism in this city effects even law abiding young men. They are heroes who held their heads high in the face of injustice.
I hope the exhibit will be a permanent fixture in our park.
How about all the other people they assaulted that night besides Tricia Meili?
They were just kids playing around. No harm done. A parent shouldn’t have to worry about their babies being unjustly arrested every time they assault someone.
I wouldn’t view them as heroes, but they were victims of systemic racism, and that fact alone merits recognition in the park and in the city where all of this took place. People might pause and give thought to the injustices that ensue from systemic racism.
It seems very insensitive and disrespectful of the woman who was brutally raped that night. I believe that she is still alive and has permanent injuries, if I am remembering that horrible incident correctly. Just remembering that incident is unpleasant for me, and a memorial that evokes the incident shouldn’t be in a public park. There must be a better way to educate people about unjust arrests and imprisonment and the corruption of false evidence or accusing people based on insufficient evidence.
Another attempt at rewriting history. Really pathetic–statues are meant to honor heroes and these young men are hardly that. Remind me again, how they behaved heroically? did they help the victim? call the police or an ambulance?
I suggest exhibits honor people for numerous reasons, heroics, goodness, survivors….
Or should we remove famine or holocaust memorials around the country?
The CP5 were none of those things. That night they were criminals assaulting random people in the park, including Tricia Meili even if it was Reyes who actually raped her.
SMH @ all you racist, ignorant, supremacist! Those boys are sadly victims of a modern day lynching! The world needs to be reminded of the tragic incident so it doesn’t happen again! Certain members of our society don’t want to be reminded of the atrocities committed upon people of color. Relearn your supremacy!
What exactly that’s been written about them here is incorrect? They assaulted numerous people and then were falsely charged with the rape of Tricia Meili after they beat, stripped, molested and simulated raping her. Three were arrested in the park and two were picked up by police after being named by others. Several people besides them also went to prison for what happened that night.
It was an incredible coincidence that Reyes came along and actually raped Meili after they were gone, but they left her unconscious and vulnerable in the mud. The evidence is very strong and was agreed upon by two separate juries. A mistake was made charging them with rape but that’s it, otherwise they were guilty as charged. Read the Armstrong Report, review all the evidence — it’s online. Don’t get your news from Netflix.