Failure to inspect basements

Some people get punished for failing to make inspections; others get paid not to make inspections.

There can be dire consequences when the city fails its job to do environmental inspections, and Bloomberg acted quickly yesterday to relieve three senior fire officials of their posts. Their failure to inspect the Deutsche Bank basement appears to be one of the factors leading to the recent death of two fire fighters.

This is in stark contrast to AKRF, which wrote an environmental review of the Duffield Street homes. After working for more than two years and receiving a reported $500,000, AKRF failed to send an archeologist inspect the basements of the Duffield and Gold Street properties.

The consequence for this shoddy inspection process is a continuing stream of contracts with the city and state. AKRF led the environmental review of the World Trade Center, the Columbia University expansion into Harlem and the Atlantic Yards.

Brooklyn Paper: City now seeks ‘Railroad’ ties

The Brooklyn Paper just published an article which appears to have been written before it was clear that Bloomberg still intends to destroy the Duffield Abolitionist homes. The article lays out the controvery over his new panel, and it reviews some of the history of Duffield Street:

Oh the irony: After spending more than two years preparing for the demolition of Duffield Street homes that many believe were stations on the Underground Railroad, the Bloomberg Administration now says it wants to “to commemorate abolitionist activity that occurred in Brooklyn in the 1800s.”

It continues

One of the seven houses, at 227 Duffield St., belonged to Thomas and Harriet Truesdell, prominent Brooklyn Abolitionists. A number of the homes’ basements have tunnels that may have been used to help slaves escape to freedom.

For more, read see City now seeks ‘Railroad’ ties.

NY Post extoll the glories of parking on ruins of Abolitionist homes

The NY Post praises the wonderful new park which the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) would create by destroying the Duffield Abolitionist homes. See DOUBLE 'PARK'ING: B'KLYN TO GET REC SPACE WITH CAR GARAGE.

The article fails to mention the controversy over the potential Underground Railroad site. The Post also bends over backwards trying to make the small park that Bloomberg wants to build sound important. The Post compares it to Bryant Park, which is more than six times larger than Bloomberg's glorious new grassy knoll.

Here is a sample of the rhetoric:

"What we're trying to do is create a dynamic downtown, and this would be a miniature version of Bryant Park that, like Bryant Park, could offer concerts, films and displays of public art," said Joseph Chan, president of the city's Downtown Brooklyn Partnership.

The residents of Duffield Street have already turned their homes into a cultural attraction. The buildings are open for public tours on Sunday afternoons. There have been a few performances at 227 Duffield Street... but it looks like Joe Chan missed those.

It should also be noted that while providing amenities to drivers may be very important, the EDC has been tearing down parking lots to build housing, though on Duffield Street, they are tearing down someone else's homes to build parking.

Daily Eagle: City plans to commemorate Abolitionism & to raze homes

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle today published "City Promises to Commemorate Abolitionism in Brooklyn, But Still Plans To Raze Duffield St. Homes," which is a probably the best article written on the recent developments. It summarizes some of the valuable contributions that AKRF's report brought to light:

The study, possibly the most extensive documentation of the anti-slavery movement here, noted several hotbeds of abolitionist activity in Downtown Brooklyn and Brooklyn Heights, where prominent abolitionists such as Henry Ward Beecher and William Lloyd Garrison lived. Before the Civil War, the borough, then filled with farmland, also had the highest slave population in New York, and later one of the most successful self-sustaining black communities in the country, Weeksville.

The article also examined the hopes and challenges that Bloomberg's recently announced panel present:

Councilwoman Letitia James, who continues to fight against the destruction of the Duffield Street homes, said she applauds the mayor’s announcement, but “it’s a one-hand clap. They need to go further and preserve these homes.

“I think [the mayor and the Development Corporation] would like to view this as a peace treaty, but it’s not. It doesn’t go far enough,” she said.

Jim Driscoll, a member of the expert panel that reviewed the Duffield Street study who recently submitted an affidavit opposing the seizure of the Duffield Street homes, said at least one should be saved as part of the commemoration effort.

“You have to have a museum if you’re talking about tourism and people coming to see this thing. They’re simply not going to come to see a bunch of signs and a walking tour,” he said. “Basically one of the homes, like 227 Duffield St., would be perfect and that wouldn’t be prohibitively expensive like some of these museums.”

Underground Railroad or Underground Rhetoric?

This Plan and collaboration that went into its development underscore the Mayor's commitment that residents should decide the future of their communities," said Deputy Mayor Doctoroff. "Downtown Brooklyn has enormous potential for further quality development and the Administration is determined to ensure that we continue to build consensus going forward so that we meet the needs and interests of everyone involved.

I discussed this quote in June, and it comes from a 2003 press release. It seems like yesterday's press release is a direct continuation of the previous rhetoric of the Bloomberg administration. It is exactly NOT what the New York Post reported:

The Underground Railroad will be officially commemorated in Brooklyn, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday.

Bloomberg said nothing about commemorating the Underground Railroad— the press release was about the Abolitionist movement. Here's what the press release said about the Underground Railroad:

an extensive research effort was completed in response to suggestions that certain houses on Duffield and Gold Streets in Downtown Brooklyn played a role in the Underground Railroad. The research did not directly connect Underground Railroad activity to the houses, but it did confirm a great deal of abolitionist activity in the area.

and

"Right now, Brooklyn's role in advancing abolitionism and in the Underground Railroad is practically invisible to most New Yorkers," said Councilmember David Yassky. "Today we are making a commitment to make that history more visible, so children can learn its enormously important lessons."

I am greatly encouraged by the new panel announced by Bloomberg. Unfortunately, he did not express any interest in promoting the Underground Railroad history, which seems to be closely linked to 227 Duffield and the surrounding homes.

Bloomberg has been talking about the need to work with the community in Downtown Brooklyn for four (4) years now. Even though he ignored the conclusions of AKRF's Peer Reviewers, and even though he did not consult the Duffield Street stakeholders yesterday, let's hope today is a new day.

If the NYC Economic Development Corporation remains in control, then the Duffield Street Abolitionist homes will be confiscated and destroyed to build a parking lot. If the new panel has some real power, then there is hope to develop Downtown Brooklyn through the promotiong of the Abolitionist history at 227 Duffield.

A victory for Brooklyn or a new justification to demolish the Duffield Abolitionist homes?

This is not a quote from Bloomberg's press release today:

In view of the Underground Railroad’s great importance has in our nation’s history, City Planning and EDC acted immediately to investigate the claims presented at the CPC public hearing of Underground Railroad activity in the area.

This is a quote a NYC Department of City Planning press release from 2004.

The Observer reports on a new released press release (PDF) in Mayor Appeases on Underground Railroad Rancor. Here is an excerpt:

MAYOR BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES PROJECT TO RECOGNIZE BROOKLYN'S ROLE IN 19TH CENTURY ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT

Widely Respected Panel Selected to Assist with Commemoration Project

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced plans to develop a project to commemorate abolitionist activity that occurred in Brooklyn in the 1800s. To assist in that effort, a six-member panel of noted historians, community leaders and academics has been selected to work with the City and the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership.

"Recognizing and honoring the historic role that Brooklyn played in the abolitionist movement is a worthy endeavor, and a role we should be proud of," said Mayor Bloomberg. "It's important that as we work to bring new jobs and housing to downtown Brooklyn that we also work to ensure that the noteworthy deeds of our ancestors will not be forgotten.

The announcement is certainly a victory for those who want to promote the development of Downtown Brooklyn through the commemoration of the Abolitionist history at 227 Duffield Street and other nearby historic properties. It is a clear recognition by the Mayor that these buildings can provide an important cultural resource to the area.

It remains to be seen whether today's press release is just an excuse to tear down these properties and to build a memorial at some other location. The EDC made this suggestion at the May 1st 2007 public hearing on the historical claims surrounding the Duffield Street homes threatened with destruction by their Downtown Brooklyn plans.

There are some disturbing hints in the Mayor's press release. Most strikingly, the EDC hired a team of eminent historians to act as Peer Reviewers for the report written by AKRF and published by the EDC in March 2007. These academics worked to legitimize the AKRF report, which concluded that there was not sufficient evidence at the time to preserve the properties. The Peer Reviewers came to the conclusion that the properties should be preserved.

Today's press release announces a "Widely Respected Panel Selected to Assist with Commemoration Project," but none of the Peer Reviewers who spoke out against the EDC's conclusions were included. Apparently, their years of work on the subject mean that they are no longer "widely respected," since they disagreed with the EDC.

It is also quite curious that the Mayor did not include Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance as one of the community groups on his panel. Four Borough has been at the forefront of the initiative to advocate for Downtown Brooklyn through the promotion of the history at 227 Duffield Street and nearby properties.

The press release continues:

In connection with the City's efforts to implement the Downtown Brooklyn Plan... an extensive research effort was completed in response to suggestions that certain houses on Duffield and Gold Streets in Downtown Brooklyn played a role in the Underground Railroad. The research did not directly connect Underground Railroad activity to the houses, but it did confirm a great deal of abolitionist activity in the area. As a result, the City is seeking to develop a commemoration program that will celebrate and embrace the role that Brooklyn played in bringing an end to slavery.

AKRF did spent two years researching this history, but for serious academic research, this is just scratching the surface. And it is factually incorrect to say that this effort "was completed in response to suggestions" etc. The research was done because AKRF was caught lying. The well respected historian Dr. Cheryl LaRoche testified before the City Council that Duffield Street is the most promising site for Underground Railroad research in the country. It is wrong to characterize this as a mere "suggestion," and I hope the Mayor corrects this error.

We applaud the Mayor for moving in the right direction. We just hope it is the right direction.