Emily Keller-O'Donnell, Journalist

Underground Railroad Came Through Here, Duffield Street Advocates Say

    Joy Chatel (right) and other property owners on Duffield Street are asking the city to cancel plans to demolish their homes for a development, saying the buildings were part of the Underground Railroad that African American slaves traversed to freedom.

    The homes could be seized by eminent domain and turned into an underground parking lot and public open space as part of the Downtown Brooklyn redevelopment plan. City Council Members Letitia James (above) and Charles Barron have joined the preservationists fight, along with the activist organization Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE).

    Chatel says sub-basement structures, described in a press release as “several unexplainable architectural abnormalities in the sub-basements” prove that her building, which is between Willoughby and Fulton streets, was part of the Underground Railroad.

    Published in Courier-Life Publications. (Sorry - the link for this article is currently unavailable.)

Late, Missing, Inadequate and Substandard Bus Service, Many Declare

    The New York City Transit Riders Council received an earful of complaints and few compliments at an annual forum to gather riders’ suggestions about bus routes and service at Brooklyn Borough Hall.

    The ten-member panel of New York City Transit and Metropolitan Transit Authority officials listened to tales of late and missing buses, routes that omit midday and weekend service, and insufficient service to the Gateway Mall, which is adjacent to the Brooklyn Developmental Disabilities Service Office on Fountain Avenue.

    Lyudmila Demikhovskaya (pictured), a disability rights activist and member of Disabled in Action, told the council that she prefers wheelchair entrances that are at the front, rather than in the middle of buses, which she finds very difficult to use.

    Published in Courier-Life Publications. (Sorry - the link for this article is currently unavailable.)

 

 

 

New York City Transit Keeps Disabled Riders In a Holding Pattern

    Activists are voicing their frustrations with New York City Transit for moving too slowly to make the Kings Highway subway station on the B/Q line accessible to people with disabilities. Published in Courier-Life Publications. (Sorry - the link for this article is currently unavailable.)