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

An Underground Railroad passageway in New York City was recently identified and is now under potential threat from proposed commercial development, according to advocates. 

The passage, found in the Merchant's House Museum in the NoHo neighborhood of Manhattan, is believed to have been part of a secret network of routes that helped enslaved Black Americans escape to freedom.

The structure is described as "about 2 feet square and secreted beneath a built-in chest of drawers on the second floor, [and] descends 15 feet to the ground floor," according to a statement from the Merchant's House Museum.

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Though the home dates to 1832, it's unclear when the passageway was built. 

The house, however, was built by an abolitionist, Joseph Brewster, and the hidden passage "serves no known domestic purpose," according to the museum.

The passageway was first found in the 1930s. Historians did not know until recently that Brewster was an abolitionist.

Museum officials said the analysis of the site took two years of "extensive research," and now the site is at risk. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places. 

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The concern is connected to the proposed development of a nine-story mixed-use building that could possibly damage the walls and foundation of the Merchant's House Museum, according to The Associated Press.

Emily Hill-Wright, the museum's director of operations, recently told the AP that engineers have raised concerns about potential structural damage.

"What our engineers are saying is that there really is no way that a building of that size is built immediately next door to the museum without causing significant structural damage to our historic building," she said.

Museum officials also said the discovery has brought in more visitors in recent months.

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New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission is set to make a decision on the development, but members of the community are raising concerns.

In a statement last week, Rev. Al Sharpton warned the site is at risk of "irreversible damage."

"When engineers tell me that an African American heritage site is in danger of structural compromise or any other sort of irreversible damage, I listen," Sharpton said in a statement.

A private developer, Kalodop II Park Corp., wants to replace the one-story garage it owns at 27 East 4th St. with a nine-story office building that includes ground-floor space likely to be used for a restaurant or art gallery, the New York Post reported. 

The developer filed two earlier applications for construction on the lot; the most recent was approved in 2023, the Post also said. But Kalodop never began the construction and, in December, submitted new plans for a building that would have two more stories.

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Helping enslaved people would have come at a great cost to Brewster, Harlem Historical Society Director Jacob Morris told The Associated Press.

"Bounty hunters were all over the place in New York City. They made their living on catching freedom-seeking Blacks," Morris said.

"If you got caught helping Blacks escape from slavery, a mob could come and burn down your house and beat you up. And maybe even tar and feather you, or worse."

The passageway discovery is one of many recent archaeological finds involving African American history.

Last June, a South Carolina tourist found "historically significant" remains on Edisto Island, once home to a community of African American sharecroppers.

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

The Associated Press contributed reporting.