As one of the researchers into the history of the last open lot in the
South Street Seaport Historic District, currently a pay-for-parking
lot, with a National Register of Historic Places property at 251 Water
Street (the whole lot has been subsumed under one address "250 Water
Street" as is the practice on new "block" size buildings in the area,
i.e. "175 Water Street" building where the "Ronson" ship was found) I
thought I might offer some background to the "New York Unearthed"
demise as I also worked on it's creation for Grossman and Associates,
Inc., for Joel W. Grossman, Ph.D., who was a primary consultant in its
creation, while I was in his employ, producing graphics for
archaeology research and report creation from remote-sensing data and
land survey data.

My involvement with this particular open lot in the Historic District,
was to be provided a pretty complete "chain of title" that is a list
of property owners for each of the historic lots on what was once the
shoreline of New Amsterdam, (the National Register site, at 251 Water
St. is on made-land or "landfill") by Greenhouse Consultants, Inc.,
and as a free-lance researcher to track down and create a history from
the names provided and supply background to the significance of the
property, my report submitted after 3 weeks in the libraries, as
requested, which also closed thereafter for renovation by the Rose
family. In protest, I might add, I have never been provided a copy of
what was submitted, and my copy was sent to the New York City
Landmarks Commission Archaeoogist as a matter of courtest and
professional warning that information provided might not be
forthcoming in regards to this very historic block, site of the first
ferry in Manhattan to Brooklyn, and the English Puritan trading
enclave just outside the famous New Amsterdam Wall of Wall Street
fame.

As the "chain of title" provides the former property owners addresses,
City Directories, though only indexed for street addresses in certain
years other years more like a modern "phonebook" indexed
alphabetically, can be read for business and personal information
which can also be checked in local histories of which there are many
for New York if one looks.

Other info:

1) South Street Seaport has done very well according to the press
after 9/11/2001 as this, one of the parking lots, provided a center
for visiting the former Word Trade Center.

2) The current owner of the property has in the past provided designs
for new buildings in the South Street Seaport Historic District which
have been objected to by the current residents abutting the property
and those nearby.

3) The current water tunnel being built under New York City had only
two possible "break points" in Lower Manhattan, at the once proposed
"Mother Cabrini Park" abutting 1 Police Plaza, the headquarters of
"New York's Finest" and (Bureau of Internal Affairs I might add, which
started raining loose bricks from its parapet the day it opened) or in
this parking lot. The former African-American mayor, Mayor Dinkins,
(who was a voting official for many years prior to his election,
appearing on voting cards in the city) was cited as wanting the
property 'condemned" as part of the city's "eminent domain" for the
new building codes downtown, which have been turning Lower Manhattan
from a "9-5" to a "24" revitalization, with upper floor apartments
permitting some to elevator commute to work. The current owner also
owns invested property at Times Square, where another revitalization
has occurred. I still have not read anywhere where the water tunnel
transfer will come up from about 900 feet below the sidewalks of New
York. Apparently, the police park for free on the brick surfaced park
where another playground was to appear and those residents complained
about in public hearings I saw on cable TV. (as I also witnessed on
another set of properties, in the Bowery, home of feminist Kate
Millet, I also was a researcher on and have never seen the submitted
work made from my colleague's and my work).

4) The historical significance of this lot is very interesting, from
Isaac Allerton to Theodore Roosevelts's family and required much
research on my part. When will we have standards for business that fit
our needs and not the needs of developers? The collection could go, in
my opinion, very easily over to Fort Jay, (built by Columbia
University students) on nearby Governors Island, in storage by the
National Parks Service there until another appropriate facility is
arranged, perhaps there on Governors Island, which I have also had the
pleasure of working on in archaeology.