There were a lot of other signs in the window of this store on Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn that’s going out of business, but we found this one saying they’re selling down to the “bare walls” the most compelling of them. We know this kind of stuff happens all the time and that there […]

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Someday, this will be the Indigo Hotel, the Duffield Street lodging designed by our favorite Brooklyn architect Karl Fischer, who thrills us by giving Downtown Brooklyn a Hot Karl. After all, why should Williamsburg get all the Hot Karl action? (Answer: Everybody needs some Hot Karl. Even you, Park Slope.) The Indigo will be at […]

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The Underground Railroad House at 227 Duffield Street will be spared from eminent domain and the wrecking ball. A press release has gone out from the owner and several groups working to save the building that the city “has pledged that it will not use eminent domain to condemn” the building and that it “has […]

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The Underground Railroad Houses on Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn may eventually fall to bulldozers, but it’s looking more and more likely that the city is putting up some sort of museum or other commemoration at the site or in another location. The New York City Economic Development Corp., which is in charge of the […]

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Yesterday was the last day for public comment in the (redone) eminent domain proceedings for a variety of properties in downtown Brooklyn. We got a copy of the comment submitted by Phil De Paolo of the New York Commmunity Council and thought we’d share a couple of short excerpts: We see a gross injustice taking […]

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The city held another hearing yesterday on its plans to seize property for development–including the Underground Railroad homes on Duffield Street–via eminent domain. The repeat hearing was held because the city had to withdraw its original findings because it “mistakenly” failed to enter a blight study into the public record during original an original hearing […]

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There’s another hearing today on the use of eminent domain in Downtown Brooklyn, including the taking of the Underground Railroad House on Duffield Street that advocates believe should be preserved. The hearings were announced very quietly, in a small ad in the New York Post on October 17, and Duffield Street Underground blog says that […]

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Looks like the Underground Railroad Houses on Duffield Street Abolitionist Place in Downtown Brooklyn are going to get another hearing. Duffield Street Underground reports that: In response to the Eminent Domain Procedure Law Petition filed by advocates for the residents and businesses of Downtown Brooklyn, the City is withdrawing its eminent domain findings and holding […]

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Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn, which is the site of the Underground Railroad Houses that the city is planning to demolish for an underground parking lot topped by a park is being “co-named” Abolitionist Place this afternoon. We’ve guessed all along that if the buildings are demolished, the park will end up with some sort […]

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Last week we noted that the city is moving toward seizing the buildings on Duffield Street that supporters say were part of the Underground Railroad in Brooklyn. The land would be used to build an underground parking garage and street level open space. Before moving ahead, the Bloomberg Administration set aside $2 million for some […]

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The Department of Housing Preservation and Development has formally approved the seizure via eminent domain of a number of buildings in Downtown Brooklyn, including the Underground Railroad Buildings on Duffield Street. The formal HPD action was reported by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. A total of 21 properties were actually approved for seizure on different blocks, […]

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Yesterday was a busy day for Brooklyn’s Underground Railroad history. Mayor Bloomberg announced via press release that he is committing $2 million for capital and construction of “a project to commemorate abolitionist activity that occurred in Brooklyn in the 1800s.” As you may recall, rowhouses on Duffield Street that the city intends to demolish to […]

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Advocates fighting to save the Underground Railroad Houses on Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn from seizure by the city and the wrecking ball are now using a blog to push their cause. One of the new items suggests that an abolitionist museum in the buildings would be a better use of the space than 700 […]

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There are more developments to report in the ongoing saga of the very threatened Underground Railroad buildings on Duffield Street. As reported on Brownstoner and in amNY yesterday, a lawsuit has been against Mayor Bloomberg and the city–which want to take the buidings via eminent domain in order to building an underground parking garage–alleging they […]

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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 […]

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The tale of the houses on Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn said to have been part of the Underground Railroad, has taken another very, very curious turn. One of the homes–the one in which Joy Chatel, one of the leaders of the fight to stop the seizure of the buildings via eminent domain and to […]

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There’s an interesting development in the case of the buildings on Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn that historic preservationists believe were part of the Underground Railroad network in Brooklyn. As it turns out, the New York State Historic Preservation Office was never contacted to determine whether the buildings are eligible for the National Register of […]

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Yesterday, we noted a protest and public hearing about the Underground Railroad Houses on Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Well, the Eminent Domain hearing is today. (The city wants to take the property via eminent domain so it can build underground parking). The hearing takes place today (5/22) at 10AM at New York City College […]

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More action on the Duffield Street Underground Railroad Houses front. Those are the historic homes in Downtown Brooklyn that the city wants to demolish to make way for underground parking for hotels across the street and other nearby developments. Many historians believe the buildings were safehouses for the Underground Railroad. There is a rally today […]

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The buildings believed to be Underground Railroad sites on Duffield Street in downtown Brooklyn had their day before the City Council on Tuesday in what turned out to be a marathon hearing that ran from 11AM-3PM. At issue is whether the city will demolish them in order to build an underground parking garage that will […]

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A much rescheduled City Council hearing on the Underground Railroad Houses on Duffield Street takes place today at 11AM. It will be preceded by a 10AM press conference that will include Charles Barron and David Yassky. The city wants to tear down because they’re on the site of a proposed parking garage. A controversial consultant’s […]

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