City Point Phase 1 Revealed

The NY Times blog and Brownstoner report on the latest iteration of the proposed City Point project, which is just behind Duffild Street. See

• CB2 Endorses New Fulton St. Shopping Center and
  
  
• City Point Phase 1 Revealed

40 hotels in Brooklyn... some imaginary

While the Brooklyn Eagle reported about all the upcoming hotel projects coming up in Brooklyn, they said this about the existing hotels:

They join The Marriott on Adams Street (656 rooms with its new addition); the conjoined Aloft/Sheraton on Duffield Street (500 rooms); Hotel Indigo, also on Duffield Street (164 rooms);

And Brownstoner dutifully republished the information here. These article follow up an Eagle article from December 2009 talking about the ongoing construction of Hotel Indigo.

The Duffield Street Blog now has exclusive photos from inside the hotel! It is the most cutting edge hotel, neo-post-modernist design, as you can see from this photo taken January 29, 2010:



Somehow, everyone missed the grand opening of this exciting new hotel.

....Maybe because the opening didn't happen. Brownstoner already reported on the BS of statements touting the opening of Hotel Indigo by the end of 2009. So I guess the folks at Brownstoner have stopped reading Brownstoner, and few bother to fact-check press releases.

Duffield Street photo essay

Here are photos from January 6, 2010.

The new gym:


The hotel at 237 Duffield Street. Several reports a few months ago said that this would be open by the beginning of 2010:



The foundation of the V3 hotel at 229-231 Duffield Street. The previous building had a false wall in the basement that several academics think could have been a stop on the Underground Railroad:


Another view of 229-231 Duffield Street construction:


This building is slated for demolition by the NYC Economic Development Corporation:


This building is also slated for demolition. The ground floor is home to an African-American themed bookstore:


Another set of buildings slated for demolition in order to make way for a mini-park and underground parking lot:


The former site of the Albee Square Mall. This is the planned location of the City Point project, recipient of Stimulus funds. For more on this project, read Feds’ CityPoint bailout is a bad use of taxpayer dollars:

Courier Life: Displaced tenants in Downtown Brooklyn rally against the city

There are many properties threatened with eminent domain in Downtown Brooklyn, not just the Duffield Street Abolitionist homes.

This blog is determined to shed light on examples of the Bloomberg administration's use of eminent domain to demolish homes and businesses without properly compensating the victims of the administration's "economic development" schemes. "Displaced tenants in Downtown Brooklyn rally against the city," published by Courier Life, touches on many of these issues:

Frustration is growing for several dozen families in three downtown Brooklyn apartment buildings who were promised new affordable housing digs in June 2008.

But the city maintains they are working as fast as they can to relocate them.

The buildings located at 402, 404 and 406 Albee Square off Willoughby Street are slated for demolition to make room for a park bounded by Fulton, Willoughby and Duffield streets.

The seizure of the homes is the result of the 2004 Downtown Brooklyn rezoning, and following a court battle, the city agreed to move eligible tenants in the buildings with substantial relocation benefits and protections including Section 8 subsidies and a preference in city-supervised affordable developments.

Eighteen months later, tenants allege that city workers have threatened to place them into the city’s shelter system or city-owned property in dangerous neighborhoods. They also complain the city’s department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is not caring for apartments in the building, which now has molded walls, detached sinks and, in one apartment, a steam pipe that spews hot water from the ceiling.

For the full article, click here.

More deserved praise for Jennifer Levy

FUREE held a leadership transition celebration at the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art (MoCADA) in Fort Greene on Friday 12/11. The Brooklyn Eagle reported on it, and mentions one of the heroes of Brooklyn history:

[the] event also featured a presentation to Jennifer Levy, acting director of South Brooklyn Legal Services for her work serving low-income Brooklyn residents, and particularly for her role in saving 227 Duffield St. from demolition via eminent domain.

More here.

Duffield holiday decorations

Here is a post from brooklynpix:

One block from Metrotech, you’re back in old Brooklyn. On Duffield Street, not far from here, there is a building that was part of the underground railroad. It is also in the middle of re-development zone. Watch for the eventually legal face-off between eminent domain and historical significance.

Voice: Duffield St. is "Best Argument Against Eminent Domain"

The Village Voice published its list of the Best of NYC in their October 21, 2009 issue. Here is what they say on page 26.

Best
Argument Against Eminent Domain
As part of the city's revitalization plans for Brooklyn, an eminent domain notice (seizing property for economic development) was served at a downtown building in January 2004- but the city picked the wrong people to mess with. Owner Joy Chatel fought to preserve 227 Duffield Street. Getting help from (among others) activist Raul Rothblatt, she beat back the threat in 2007. They weren't just fighting for a piece of property, but also a piece of history- the building was home to well known abolitionists and noted by historians as being part of the Underground Railroad. The Duffield collective is raising money to turn the building into a museum, which could become quite an attraction. The fight with the city hasn't ended though: Surrounding buildings, which also have abolitionist history, have been bought up by the city for hotel construction or are under threat of eminent domain. Though they'd like to work with the city, Rothblatt insists that the Duffield group will "fight to the end, promoting and protecting the property."

The Voice ends up by giving a link to this blog- Thanks!

Bk Eagle: Abolitionist History in Brooklyn Gets Fed Grants

The Brooklyn Eagles reports about new support for Abolitionist history in "Project To Commemorate Abolitionist History in Brooklyn Gets Federal Grants":

The Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS), the Weeksville Heritage Center and Irondale Ensemble Project have been chosen to receive two major federal grants to fund their joint project “In Pursuit of Freedom,” a multifaceted program that memorializes the history of abolitionism and the Underground Railroad in Brooklyn.

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education’s Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural (URR) Program has awarded BHS $936,000; and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded $400,000 to the program, which was originally announced last year....

These awards complement $2 million already granted by the city in 2008 through a Request for Proposals that was initiated by the Downtown Brooklyn Development Corporation.

The project to commemorate Brooklyn’s abolitionist history stems, at least in part, from a controversy several years ago, over an urban-renewal plan to destroy several 19th century homes on Duffield Street that were reportedly linked to the Underground Railroad. The Duffield Street houses have since been saved.

One of the Duffield Street homes, number 227, was spared in a settlement with the city in 2007. Its owner, Joy Chatel, pledged to continue giving tours of her home and using it as a center where people can learn about the Underground Railroad and abolitionist activity in Brooklyn. Another known Underground Railroad site in Brooklyn is the former Bridge Street A.W.M.E. Church building, now part of Polytechnic University....


All aspects of the project will utilize historic artifacts and documents held by the Brooklyn Historical Society.

Among these are a rare copy of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Abraham Lincoln; original letters written by Henry Ward Beecher and fellow abolitionist William Wilson; propaganda tracts; numerous slave bills of sale; as well as newspapers, anti-slavery pamphlets from the 1840s; and early photographs of the people and places crucial to the story.

To read the original article, click here.

Abolitionist homes saved!!

The Underground Railroad homes on West 29th Street in Manhattan have gotten historic protection from the Landmark Preservation Commission. Here is the an excerpt from "Landmark victory for Underground Railroad block" published in Chelsea Now:

The city Landmarks Preservation Commission enthusiastically approved the historic designation of a dozen neighboring buildings on W. 29^th St. that played a pivotal role in New York’s abolitionist history.

The Lamartine Place Historic District—which includes a row house that acted as a stop on the Underground Railroad among 12 contiguous properties between Eighth and Ninth Aves.—received unanimous support from the commission, which credited the work of local advocates in pushing for the designation.

“There’s no question that, in my mind, since the first time that this was brought to our attention, there’s an incredibly committed neighborhood group—residents and committed neighbors—who have helped really lead this fight,” said LPC Commissioner Robert Tierney in his remarks, citing the “enormously important history” of the properties. “We live in New York City, and we sometimes don’t see our history as well and as clearly as we should,” he added. “I think this helps clarify that.”

Read more here.

Construction permit revoked at Abolitionist site

Here is info from an email from "Friends of Hopper Gibbons Underground Railroad" about the Abolitionist home at 339 W. 29th St. in Manhattan:

Julie and I just received news yesterday from Leah Donaldson of the DOB that the agency "has revoked application 103907337, which included the addition of the fifth floor. A Stop Work Order has been issued to the site and periodic inspections are conducted to ensure no work is occurring.

DOB will continue to monitor the site to ensure all violations are being resolved."

From what Julie heard from an architect, having an application revoked is a very rare thing. So, I think this is big news.

Please stay tuned for more details.

New rendering of hotel at 229-231 Duffield- near exciting MetroTech

New rendering of the hotel at 229-231 Duffield showed up on the V3 website. It's their featured project, and here's the blurb:

The new hotel, will be developed and operated by V3 Hotels and designed by H. Thomas O’Hara, is just steps away from the MetroTech center, the court buildings and the Manhattan Bridge, as well as being minutes from Manhattan by subway or bus. The hotel will have a unique presence along the block of many hotels. The red artesian textured brick and matching mortar will give the building seamless verticality, while the angular facade will give each room a different view floor by floor. The boutique hotel will have 130 rooms that will be comfortable as well as affordable, and more than 1,500 square feet of ground floor retail space.

There's no mention of the Abolitionist homes on either side of the proposed hotel. But it's close to MetroTech and Manhattan! Uh, V3's "ultimate goal," according to their website is

to provide our guests with a hospitality experience that exemplifies a new paradigm in the hotel industry while always respecting and reflecting our communities and neighborhoods.

Construction permits pulled at Underground Railroad site

Chelsea Now reports today on the Lamartine Gibbons Home in "Construction permits pulled at Underground Railroad site":

The efforts of a group of preservationists to halt construction work at a Chelsea rowhouse that was a stop on the Underground Railroad recently led the city to revoke the developer’s permits to build a penthouse addition....

Last week, the city Department of Buildings revoked the developer’s construction permit “related to the job to vertically and horizontally enlarge the building,” said DOB spokesperson Carly Sullivan. The plan includes the addition of a fifth floor and penthouse to the 1847 building, with much of the construction already completed despite the fact that it had already been deemed illegal.

In May, the DOB levied a stop-work order on the property, even though ongoing construction work had inexplicably been allowed to continue after the developer’s plans failed a DOB audit in 2008.

For the full article, click here.

According to defenders of the building history, "Although the building permit has been revoked, the architect is apparently still fighting and the owner still has wiggle room to amend the permit before the building is landmarked in the fall."

Beginning of construction at 237 Duffield?

Hotel Indigo at 237 Duffield Street is finally showing a sign of construction activity. Here is a temporary construction office delivered on July 28, 2009:



V3 representative Greg Atkins, formerly of Borough President Markowitz's office, is seen working outside on a very hot day:

Why hasn't ground been broken on 229 Duffield?

Why didn't V3 break ground on the hotel at 229-231 Duffield Street? This is what the NY Post reported on July 9 about the site:

Ground will be broken next week [which would have been about two weeks ago] on a 19-story, 130-room boutique hotel on Duffield Street between Willoughby and Fulton streets, Long Island City-based V3 Hotels said yesterday.

Well, maybe their permits weren't in order. A Permit application processed for alteration to property was submitted on July 24, 2009.

Updates on the half-finished hotel at 237 Duffield

The Brooklyn Paper seems to be reprinting press releases without much fact checking. According to Duffield neighbors are hostile to the new hostel (published July 9),

The builders behind Duffield Street’s half-finished Hotel Indigo revealed renderings this week for another boutique hotel [at 231 Duffield].

The New York Post is a little worse- here is what they published on the same day:

Ground will be broken next week on a 19-story, 130-room boutique hotel on Duffield Street between Willoughby and Fulton streets, Long Island City-based V3 Hotels said yesterday.

Hotel Indigo, also built by V3.... is to be completed by the end of the year.

I contacted NY Post author Rich Calder to tell him that his story has some errors, but the paper did not change anything.

Here is a photo of this "half-finished" Hotel Indigo from May 7, 2009:



Here is the same location on July 19, 2009:



As you can see, the main difference is that the security guard is missing in the July photo.

The hotel at 231 Duffied Street was supposed to take place last week. Here are photos to show that the site remains undisturbed: