In June 2024, Gergely Baics, associate professor of history and urban studies, alongside co-creators Meredith Linn, Leah Meisterlin, and Myles Zhang, and in collaboration with The Institute for the Exploration of Seneca Village History and the Central Park Conservancy, launched the Envisioning Seneca Village 3D model.
This digital project reimagines the important nineteenth-century community, Seneca Village, as it might have appeared around the year 1855, just before its destruction to create what is now Central Park. Despite extensive research, much about Seneca Village and its residents remains unknown. Baics and his collaborators hope to change this with this new project rooted in extensive and ongoing research, which brings to life a village for which no photos, drawings, or above-ground remnants exist. The goal of their project is to educate visitors about Seneca Village, inspire new research, and honor the people who built and lived in this community.