Construction workers excavating the backyard of a former church rectory house in Manhattan’s West Village uncovered human skeletal remains Thursday morning, cops said.
The workers were preparing to build a garden behind the converted private townhouse formerly owned by St. John’s Lutheran Church on Christopher St. near Seventh Ave. when they uncovered the remains around 11 a.m., police said.
Discovered beneath a layer of brick about 5 feet below ground, the bones included a spinal cord and half a skull, according to police.
St. John’s Lutheran Church sits on the site of a 19th-century cemetery, which stood for roughly 40 years before the church was established in 1860. The adjacent rectory was sold in 2015.
Although the grounds were excavated and the bodies removed before the church’s construction, investigators suspect remains uncovered Thursday may have been left behind.
The city’s medical examiner will try to determine the cause of death.