‘Underground Railroad’ house in Brooklyn could be foreclosed on

A fundraiser will be held tonight at the Rush Corridor Gallery in Clinton Hill for the owner of 227 Duffield Street, which historians say was part of the Underground Railroad network that helped free slaves. Owner Joy Chatel reportedly owes more than $300,000 in mortgage payments to Bayview Loan Servicing. Chatel had planned on opening an Underground Railroad museum at the house, which had long been threatened with an eminent domain taking. Under the city’s Downtown Brooklyn Redevelopment Plan, the house was to be cleared to make way for underground parking for more than 4 million square feet of new retail, commercial and luxury housing. The 1848 home at 227 Duffield Street was owned by abolitionists Thomas and Harriet Lee-Truesdell.