Historian gives credence to underground Railroad claims
By Stephen Witt

A key city historian offered his views last week on the Duffield Street abolitionist houses and appears to have landed on the side of preservationists.

Christopher Moore, a curator at Harlem’s Schomburg Center, and regarded as one of the city’s foremost African-American historians, is also a member of the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC).

His name reportedly came up at the May 1 City Council hearing regarding the city’s plans to condemn and demolish the Duffield Houses and replace it with 1.5-acres of open space and underground parking for 750 cars.

Preservationists have argued that the houses, located at 225, 231, 235, 223, 227 and 233 Duffield and 436 Gold streets, are linked to the Underground Railroad and Abolitionist Movement, and should be preserved.