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August 17, 2007
City announces RFP to destroy Duffield Abolitionist homes
Duffield St. Underground
The latest news from Brooklyn's other land grab is that the City has put out an RFP for the parking garage with which it wants to replace the historic Duffield Street houses it plans to demolish:
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle today published "City Seeks Developer for Downtown Park, Garage", which starts:
The city officially began seeking a developer for the “Willoughby Square” park and underground garage on Monday, the same day Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a $2 million project to commemorate abolitionist activity in Downtown Brooklyn.
The Abolitionist homes and the potential Underground Railroad sites would be destroyed in order to create a parking lot and grassy knoll. The project would also require the use of eminent domain to confiscate the properties, since the owners do not want to sell. The owners want to create an Abolitionist museum on the site. The article notes that HPD's decision on the Duffield homes is due next week....
NoLandGrab: It did seem odd that the Mayor announced plans to provide $2 million for the commemoration of abolitionist history, in the middle of the summer, out of the blue. In light of the RFP, it's a reasonable conclusion that the City is trying to throw money at the problem, like it's a PR nuisance.
Demolishing historic homes, wiping away abolitionist history and destroying one of the last vestiges of the Brooklyn Underground Railroad are exactly that — doing it via eminent domain is not only unseemly, but immoral. No amount of money is going to make the real issues go away, though it might buy some loyalty along the way.
Posted by lumi at August 17, 2007 5:54 AM