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NYC Neighborhood Bands Together to Protect Manhattan’s Last Underground Railroad Stop
NYC Neighborhood Bands Together to Protect Manhattan’s Last Underground Railroad Stop
Photo courtesy of CBS.

The Last Underground Railroad Site in New York City Will Be Preserved After Court Ruling

NYC Neighborhood Bands Together to Protect Manhattan\u2019s Last Underground Railroad Stop Photo courtesy of CBS.

The last remaining Underground Railroad site in New York City will be preserved following attempts to renovate it from its original design.

A townhouse located on the block of West 29th Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues serves as the home of the last Underground Railroad site in NYC, which once belonged to abolitionists Abigail Hopper Gibbons and her family. However, the site has experienced remodeling throughout the past couple of years because of developer Tony Mamounas. Mamounas had added an additional area to the roof of the building, which blocked an original escape route used by Gibbons.

Fern Luskin is a professor of architecture at LaGuardia Community College. When she found out about the changes, she and fellow community members in the neighborhood formed Friends of Hopper Gibbons House to try to counter any additional work being done.

Because of their efforts and work, a court ruling was recently ruled against Mamounas. The Landmarks Preservation Commission denied Mamounas’s new construction plans and ruled that the roof is inessential to the legacy of the house.

Mamounas is now required to restore the building to its historical appearance. He has 60 days to comply or else the city will do it and send him the bill.

H/T: CBS