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May 22, 2007
Hearing Today Over Seizure of Alleged Underground Railroad Homes
Fugitive Slaves, City Study, Deed Fraud Part of Duffield Street Lore
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle
By Sarah Ryley
A really good article about what's at stake at today's hearing about Brooklyn's other land grab:
A sign depicting a white man with pointy teeth, looming menacingly over low-rise Brooklyn about to take a bite, was the backdrop to a rally held on the steps of City Hall Monday against today’s eminent domain hearing involving homes allegedly once involved in the Underground Railroad.
These homes on Duffield Street are sandwiched between Fulton Mall, an outdoor shopping area that caters mainly to a black clientele, and MetroTech, developer Bruce Ratner’s first major Brooklyn complex, a fortress of office towers.
The city’s Economic Development Corporation (EDC) wants to demolish the Duffield homes to make way for a 1-acre park and underground parking garage that would, in part, service the boutique hotel going up across the street. The hearing — involving the northern half of the block bounded by Duffield, Gold, Willoughby and Fulton streets — is the culmination of a three-year battle that doesn’t look good for the protesters in front of that sign.
...
Councilwoman Letitia James allows that as an elected official, she has no power to stop the seizure of the homes through eminent domain. “The only recourse we have is in the courts and moral suasion,” she says.
Here's a good example of the sincerity of the City's Economic Development Corporation. According to a spokesperson:
“Although the report did not confirm a history of Underground Railroad activity at the sites in question, we look forward to working with members of the City Council to determine how to commemorate the substantial activity that occurred elsewhere within the greater Downtown Brooklyn neighborhood.”
Posted by lumi at May 22, 2007 9:27 AM