March 2, 2004

Statement of the Historic Districts Council
Before the Landmarks Preservation Commission

Re: The Designation of the Lady Deborah Moody House, 27 Gravesend Neck Road, Brooklyn

The Historic Districts Council is the city-wide advocate for New York City’s historic districts and for neighborhood meriting preservation. HDC is very pleased to have the opportunity to testify in support of the proposed designation of the Lady Deborah Moody House.

As stated in the presentation, the Lady Moody House is one of only 14 Dutch-American farmhouses still extant in Brooklyn. It is a valuable and powerful reminder of our city’s beginnings as a small colony, prey to the forces of nature and the random destruction that all-so-often follows imperializing activity. The presence of the house – combined with the nearby landmarked colonial graveyard and the very street plan of the neighborhood, enable a passerby to imagine a very different Brooklyn. In the best possible way, this house supports the adage that architecture is history made solid.

The question of the patrimony of the house actually lends it more interest. This is a structure with many different layers and meanings. It is accepted fact that Lady Moody never lived in this house, and whether it actually is on the specific site of her property is a matter that only an archaeological excavation will resolve. Regardless, this is the Lady Moody House – an accepted fact to over two centuries of Brooklyn children. This is a cultural landmark in the truest sense that it is a landmark of Brooklyn’s culture. It is also, of course, a house that has was built before this country was born and is wholly meritorious of preservation on that basis alone.

HDC is thrilled that the Landmarks Commission is acting to protect this important piece of New York City’s history, We are also buoyed by the news that the Commission is considering acting on the remaining 5 farmhouses.