May 1 Hearing on Confiscation/demolition of Slave Safehouses

raulism

Please attend and testify on Duffield Street, the Underground Railroad and AKRF's hatchet job on Tuesday, May 1 at City Hall:

Press Conference: City Hall Steps: 10AM with Charles Barron and David Yassky

Hearing: 11AM, Council Chambers






FACT SHEET ON AKRF REPORT ON DUFFIELD STREET AND THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD



1) AKRF is a historical consultant known as a hired gun which does its clients' bidding, in this case the NYC Economic Development Corp. which is seeking to demolish several houses from the 1840s and 50s known to have been part of the Underground Railroad. This as part of the Downtown Brooklyn Redevelopment Plan. AKRF employed persons unfamiliar with Brooklyn abolitionist history who discounted and ignored important evidence brought to its attention and did not present their preliminary findings to a Peer Review committee of local historians familiar with this material. Even so, they concluded that the houses reached a Level Three Rating on the Wellman Scale for evaluating UGRR sites, indicating significant involvement but concluded that this did not justify preserving the houses. A report by the Society for the Architecture of the City reported strong evidence for UGRR involvement and recommends preservation and further study.

(Note: AKRF is the same company that wrote the Atlantic Yards Environmental Impact Statement, and is currently the interim environmental monitor of the project as it now stands)


2) The owners of several of the houses seek to develop an Underground Railroad museum on the site highlighting the roles of local institutions such as the former Bridge Street AME Church, Brooklyn's first black congregation which is preserved as part of nearby Polytech-nic University, and Plymouth Church (of the Pilgrims) on Orange Street in nearby Brooklyn Heights whose famous pastor Henry Ward Beecher was a nationally known abolitionist.


3) The Aloft/Sheraton Hotel is under construction across Duffield Street (between Fulton and Willoughby Streets). Construction there stopped on or about April 20 when tunnels were discovered which may connect to similar holes in 227 Duffield where the Truesdells resided, a possibly mixed race couple who were known abolitionists when they lived in Boston lived in the 1850s. The Director of Archaeology of the Landmarks Preservation Commission has been asked to investigate this matter.


4) The houses' site across Duffield Street is not to be used for the hotel but for parking and access which could just as easily be located in the hotel's basement, which would be more convenient for guests and employees and was done in the recently expanded Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge on Jay Street.


5) The houses are also of known architectural significance. 1840s Federal and Greek Re-vival houses are scarce in the city and the Municipal Arts Society has called for preserving 233 Duffield since it is a rare clapboard Greek Revival house with later Italianate detailing.


6) AKRF was forced to release a new study as of March 2007 because they were caught lying. They had claimed that they had consulted Christopher Moore, a historian at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. He then testified that nobody had consulted him, and if they had, he would have said that Duffield Street is the most promising area for Underground Railroad research in New York City.


7) We call for a moratorium on condemnation actions for a private project on this site by eminent domain so that independent investigation can take place.


8) Please testify at a public hearing on AKRF at City Hall on Tuesday, May 1 at 11AM before the Landmarks Subcommittee chaired by Jessica Lappin, preceded by a 10AM news conference on the City Hall steps with Councilmembers Charles Barron and David Yassky.

idlewild

Is the City evicting homeowners from Duffield for the Sheraton hotel?

raulism

Idlewild wrote: Is the City evicting homeowners from Duffield for the Sheraton hotel?

The hotel in question is Aloft, but it's not to build the hotel- only to provide easy access. And to provide an underground parking lot, even though the hotel could build its own partking lot on its own property.

Where is the Sheraton going?

raulism

raulism wrote: [quote=Idlewild]Is the City evicting homeowners from Duffield for the Sheraton hotel?

The hotel in question is Aloft, but it's not to build the hotel- only to provide easy access. And to provide an underground parking lot, even though the hotel could build its own partking lot on its own property.

Where is the Sheraton going?

Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Worldwide owns both Sheraton and aloft.

corporatespeak wrote: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with approximately 850 properties in more than 95 countries and 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood(R) Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels and resorts with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis(R), The Luxury Collection(R), Sheraton(R), Westin(R), Four Points(R) by Sheraton, W(R), Le Meridien and the recently announced Aloft(SM) and Element(SM) Hotels. Starwood Hotels also own Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com.

raulism

I just posted a blow-by-blow coverage of the meeting at http://undergroundrailroadsafehouses.org/

Here's a map showing all of the Abolitionist churches in Downtown Brooklyn: