Goodbye Duffield Street Underground RR Homes

The City giveth and the City taketh: After a valiant struggle on the part of homeowners (see all the posts listed below), the Department of Housing Preservation and Development ruled Monday that the city should use its powers of eminent domain to seize 21 properties on three blocks in Downtown Brooklyn, plus a financial services firm that employs 150 people, reports the Brooklyn Eagle. Several of these properties are thought to have been part of the historical Underground Railroad.

Weirdly, this comes on top of an announcement this week of the city's plan to spend $2 million to commemorate abolitionist activity in Downtown Brooklyn. Except that the actual spots where the abolitionist activity took place are, uh, about to be razed.

More here.

Previous posts on this topic:
Video Explains All: Brooklyn's Duffield St. Houses
Lawsuit to Save 'Duffield Seven' from Downtown Brooklyn Plan
Brooklyn Underground Railroad Home for Sale for $4.5 Million
Underground RR Consultants Tried to Pull (Another) Fast One
Atlantic Yards Consultant Bill Up to $4.8 Million
Red Hook Lane Demapped, No Longer Exists
Is $500,000 Underground Railroad Study Bogus?

Photo by MK Metz