Hidden NYC tunnel tied to Underground Railroad at risk of ‘significant damage,’ advocates warn

An Underground Railroad passageway successful New York City was precocious identified — and is present nether imaginable menace from projected commercialized development, according to advocates. 

The passage, recovered successful the Merchant's House Museum successful the NoHo vicinity of Manhattan, is believed to person been portion of a concealed web of routes that helped enslaved Black Americans flight to freedom.

The operation is described arsenic "about 2 feet quadrate and secreted beneath a built-in thorax of drawers connected the 2nd floor, [and] descends 15 feet to the crushed floor," according to a connection from the Merchant's House Museum.

MASSIVE INDUSTRIAL SITE UNCOVERED IN UNLIKELY LOCATION AS ARCHAEOLOGISTS CITE 'ENORMOUS' POTENTIAL

Though the location dates to 1832, it's unclear erstwhile the passageway was built. 

The house, however, was built by an abolitionist, Joseph Brewster — and the hidden transition "serves nary known home purpose," according to the museum.

A recently identified passageway astatine a historical Manhattan location is believed to person played a relation successful helping enslaved Black Americans flight to state done concealed routes. (Max Touhey/Merchant's House Museum via AP; Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The passageway was archetypal recovered successful the 1930s. Historians did not cognize until precocious that Brewster was an abolitionist.

Museum officials said the investigation of the tract took 2 years of "extensive research" — and present the tract is astatine risk. The gathering is connected the National Register of Historic Places. 

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The interest is connected to the projected improvement of a nine-story mixed-use gathering that could perchance harm the walls and instauration of the Merchant's House Museum, according to The Associated Press.

Emily Hill-Wright, the museum's manager of operations, precocious told AP that engineers person raised concerns astir imaginable structural damage.

A concealed transition beneath a second-floor thorax of drawers descends astir 15 feet to the crushed level. (Max Touhey/Merchant's House Museum via AP)

"What our engineers are saying is that determination truly is nary mode that a gathering of that size is built instantly adjacent doorway to the depository without causing important structural harm to our historical building," she said.

Museum officials besides said the find has brought successful much visitors successful caller months.

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New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission is acceptable to marque a determination connected the development, but members of the assemblage are raising concerns.

In a connection past week, Rev. Al Sharpton warned the tract is astatine hazard of "irreversible damage."

Researchers accidental the hidden abstraction serves nary known home intent wrong the historical New York City home. (Max Touhey/Merchant's House Museum via AP)

"When engineers archer maine that an African American practice tract is successful information of structural compromise oregon immoderate different benignant of irreversible damage, I listen," Sharpton said successful a statement.

The backstage developer, Kalodop II Park Corp., wants to regenerate the one-story store it owns astatine 27 East 4th St. with a nine-story bureau gathering that includes ground-floor abstraction apt to beryllium utilized for a edifice oregon creation gallery, arsenic The New York Post reported of the details. 

"Bounty hunters were each implicit the spot successful New York City."

The developer had 2 earlier applications for operation connected the lot; the astir caller was approved successful 2023, the Post besides said. But Kalodop ne'er began the operation — and successful December submitted caller plans for a gathering that would person two more stories.

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Helping enslaved radical would person travel astatine a large outgo to Brewster, Harlem Historical Society manager Jacob Morris told The Associated Press.

"Bounty hunters were each implicit the spot successful New York City. They made their surviving connected catching freedom-seeking Blacks," helium said.

The Merchant's House Museum was primitively built successful 1832 by abolitionist Joseph Brewster, historians say. (Lawrence Thornton/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Morris added, "If you got caught helping Blacks flight from slavery, a mob could travel and pain down your location and bushed you up. And possibly adjacent tar and feather you, oregon worse."

The passageway find is 1 of galore caller archaeological finds involving African American history.

Last June, a South Carolina tourer recovered "historically significant" remains connected Edisto Island, erstwhile location to a assemblage of African American sharecroppers.

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Also, past summer, archaeologists successful Williamsburg, Virginia, dug up artifacts from the oldest surviving schoolhouse for Black children.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.