Given that an outside consultant failed to find evidence that the Underground Railroad stopped at seven imperiled rowhouses on Duffield and Gold streets (PDF), Mayor Bloomberg could have pressed on, letting the properties be condemned and then flattened to make way for a park and underground parking lot envisioned in the 2004 Downtown Brooklyn Plan.

Today, though, comes the news that he will heed the recommendations of some of the peer reviewers of that study and has committed $2 million for capital and construction of “a project to commemorate abolitionist activity that occurred in Brooklyn in the 1800s.”

That doesn’t mean the houses will be saved; most likely the opposite will occur. But the memorial project—what it turns out to be will be decided as a result of a bidding process this fall—signals a more conciliatory approach toward City Council Members and others who criticized the Underground Railroad study when it came out in the spring.  read more »