They walked into the northeast corner of Central Park one night in 1989 and later stood trial for the brutal rape of a woman jogging. Now five Black and Latino men, sent to prison as teenagers for a crime they did not commit, are being honored by the City, which has renamed a park entrance gate after them: Gate of the Exonerated.
The men, known as the Central Park Five, were acquitted in 2002. Since then, society has tried to understand and right a wrong that cannot be undone. The men received $41 million in compensation from the City. His case was the subject of a 2012 documentary, a Pulitzer Prize-winning opera and a 2019 Netflix miniseries exploring how so much could go so wrong.
The gate designation is a rare case of a municipality immortalizing its mistake, etching it on the wall at the point where the teens entered the park that night.
Three years ago, members of the local community board and members of the Central Park Conservancy, the nonprofit group that runs the park, began exploring ways to acknowledge injustice. Final approval came from the Public Design Commission, the panel that oversees the City’s art, including landmarks. The gate was dedicated on December 19, the 20th anniversary of when the men’s convictions were overturned.
“It’s official self-flagellation,” said Michele H. Bogart, an art historian who specializes in public art.
The convictions drew particular scrutiny because of the speed and ferocity with which the teens were demonized by the media and others before trial. By the time their convictions were overturned, the Central Park Five—Yusef Salaam, Korey Wise, Raymond Santana, Antron McCray, and Kevin Richardson—had already served between 6 and 13 years in prison. Confessions made during police interrogations were discredited as coerced when an older man with no connection to the five, Matías Reyes, confessed to being the attacker. DNA tests later confirmed that he was telling the truth.
Central Park has dozens of entrances, including 19 named gates that were part of the original 19th-century design, all with deliberately broad titles like the Craftsmen’s Gate, the Merchants’ Gate, and the Women’s Gate. The Gate of the Exonerated was the first to be baptized since then.
“I feel like it’s a moment of truth and reconciliation,” said Mary Valverde, a member of the Design Commission. “It is a gesture that should not only be recognized by the City, but also by the Country.”
By: ZACHARY SMALL
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6534400, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-01-17 23:00:07
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