The town of Southampton, Long Island, has approved a six-month moratorium on new construction in a wealthy Hamptons neighborhood called Shinnecock Hills where human remains and artifacts of ancient Indigienous people were found in recent years.
The Shinnecock Indian Nation has been pushing the moratorium for several decades to protect their ancestral burial grounds.
Lawmakers say the moratorium will allow them to review its laws and land use related to unmarked graves and burial sites.
It also establishes procedures for how to handle ancient human remains and artifacts that are found. New York is one of four states that lacks such a law.
