Landmarks Preservation Commission Rebuffs Underground Railroad Houses

The Landmarks Preservation Commission has declined to get involved in the issue of the buildings on Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn that many historians believe were sites on the Underground Railroad, but which the city wants to demolish in order to build underground parking. A consulting firm hired by the Economic Development Corporation and paid $500,000 to conduct a study said it found no conclusive evidence the buildings were part of the Underground Railroad. Supporters of the houses say the consultants overlooked evidence.

In any case, an email sent out last week to the President of the New York Landmarks Conservancy included the letter reproduced above from LPC Chair Robert Tierney that says, in effect, that the site should be commemorated by a plaque after the houses are torn down. The email said in part:

Today, we suffered a major setback in our advocacy. Peg received an unusually prompt and decisive reply from LPC Chair Tierney. In the attached letter, he declines to have his agency become involved.

It is important to note that LPC could take other steps than landmark designation to foster preservation. It could require comprehensive archaeological research. It could ensure that the buildings and site are fully documented, in photos and measured drawings. Or it could ask that the houses be spared and moved to another site. It could even espouse an alternative design that would spare the houses.

But instead, the plans for an underground garage, 1.5 acre open space, and "program of memorialization" will go forward, unconstrained by LPC. This is very discouraging.

The city intends to take the properties via eminent domain.

Related Posts:
State Historic Preservation Office Never Contacted About Underground Railroad Homes
Consultant Paid $500K to Write Report