BILL NUMBER: S5991

SPONSOR: LANZA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public authorities law, in relation to authorizing
the dormitory authority to provide financing to the Sandy Ground Histor-
ical Museum

 
PURPOSE:

Authorizes the dormitory authority to provide financing to the Sandy
Ground Historical Museum.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1. Amends Section 1676 of the public authorities law. Section

2. Amends Section 1680 of the public authorities law. Section 3. This
act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a
law.
              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In 1827, after slavery was abolished in the State of New York, freemen
settled in an area of Richmond County that had been known since colonial
times as Sandy Ground. Located today in the Rossville section of Rich-
mond County, Sandy Ground was one of the first documented land purchases
by an African-American from the area and remains to be one of the oldest
surviving communities in the United States that had been founded by
African-Americans prior to the American Civil War.The early settlers of
Sandy Ground were skilled in the oyster trade, with their community
being within distance of Prince's Bay, the island's main hub for oyster
harvesting. From the early to mid-19th century, Sandy Ground served as
an important stop on the Underground Railroad. Sandy Ground is the
oldest continuously settled free black community in the United States,
and ten families descended from the original settlers still remain in
the area today.  This legislation would authorize the Dormitory Authori-
ty to provide financing to the Sandy Ground Historical Museum.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Undetermined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become a law.