We happened upon this pair of pre-Civil War houses on Duffield Street yesterday and were stopped in our tracks. The Greek Revival houses, it turns out, were originally built in 1838 and 1839 by the Rev. Samuel Roosevelt Johnson around the corner on Johnson Street between Bridge and Lawrence Streets. When Metrotech was built in the early 1990′s, these two houses along with two brick ones at 182 and 184 (all of which have been designated landmarks) were moved to their current location on Duffield next to St. Boniface (photo on the jump). We noticed that Number 188 (at left) appeared empty and that the interiors had fallen into disrepair, despite the exterior being nicely maintained. It appeared that Number 186 was inhabited. The owner of all four is listed on Property Shark as the Duffield Street Housing Co., with offices at Metrotech. Not a huge leap to assume that Ratner controls them. If that’s the case, he certainly can’t plead indigence as an excuse for not restoring the interior of Number 188.
F.Y.I. – Second Item [NY Times] GMAP