JavaScript is Disabled

To view content on CULTURED, please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Parties

Inside the Central Park Conservancy’s Starry Juneteenth Bash

Black leaders across cultural spheres gathered to remember the historic Seneca Village, which once resided on the land we now know as Central Park.

Isabella Bernstein

June 23, 2026

Guests at the Seneca Village Juneteenth celebration from the Central Park Conservatory where actors Taylour Paige and Jeremy O. Harris joined. — Guests at the Central Park Conservancy’s Juneteenth commemoration. All photography by Rebecca Smeyne and courtesy of the Central Park Conservancy.

On the eve of Juneteenth, a host of prominent Black actors, writers, and creatives gathered to celebrate Juneteenth and bring awareness to the Central Park Conservancy’s mission to preserve and honor the legacy of Seneca Village, the historically Black settlement that was displaced in the mid-19th century for the park’s construction.

The Scene: The intimate dinner was hosted by the Conservancy with stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, cultural preservationist and filmmaker Peggy King Jorde of King Jorde Culturals, and landscape architect Sara Zewde of Studio Zewde. The evening balanced reflection and festivity, as guests caught up, fostered new connections, and acknowledged the significance of the ground beneath them.

The Locale: Nestled in the greenery at dusk, the dinner took place at the site of Seneca Village, on Central Park’s Summit Rock. The hamlet was originally founded in 1825, and was a vibrant community for Black Americans and immigrant groups until its demolition.

The Crowd: Attending the dinner were a variety of figures across culture, style, and the arts, including writer Camille Okhio; editors Lindsay Peoples Wagner, Nikki Ogunnaike, Doreen St. Félix, Teneshia Carr, Thomas Gebremedhin, Cynthia Horner and Leah Faye Cooper; writer Akila Hughes; artist Joshua Woods; stylist Shiona Turini; designers Dominique Wells and Rachel Scott; political leaders Yusef Salaam and Cordell Cleare; Studio Museum staff Shanta Lawson and Devin Malone; and curator Denise Murrell.

Food & Drink: Delicious bites inspired by sites of African diaspora were catered by Bronx-based gastronomy collective Ghetto Gastro, the masterminds behind the Greenwich Village’s new Black social supper club Gourmega. Guests sipped on signature cocktails from drinksmith Anthony Bates of Ralph Lauren’s Midtown East establishment, the Polo Bar.