Long Live Bed-Stuy's Brownstones! Macdonough St. Houses Will Remain.

Councilmember Letitia James [photo, left] says there's likely an agreement approaching to save the threatened historic brownstones on Macdonough St. in Bed-Stuy. 

Representatives of the New York City Department of Buildings and private engineers "are close to a plan of action to shore up the buildings," James said in a phone interview.

When I was visiting Macdonough Street on Sunday, looking over the buildings and speaking with residents, a Buildings Department official drove by and, as I chatted with him, told me outright that the brownstones would not be demolished.

Very good news.

The matter is still in court before a judge who will rule one way or the other, but it's looking very good now.

Demolition of those houses would cause hurt all around, to the souls of residents and others who love Bedford Stuyvesant. The houses are, like my own family's Bed-Stuy brownstone, more than a hundred years old and are lovely in their inner detail.

A.N.C. contractors were apparently doing work on 329 Macdonough when they caused serious damage to the "load-bearing" foundation wall. Neighboring brownstones were also put at risk by the actions of the contractors, with the Buildings Department saying 329 and at least one other might have to be demolished.

Now there are questions about whether what the A.N.C. contractors were doing was legal and whether the architect (Michael McCaw) was adequately overseeing them.

I did an earlier post informing that the architect in question was the same one who worked on my family's brownstone in Bed-Stuy, causing me much, much irritation and extra money.

Seems McCaw is developing a track record of added costs and time on projects he is involved with.