WaHI Magazine
Help Save the Seaman-Drake Arch 
29 February 2004
The Seaman-Drake Arch is a gorgeous marble arch in Inwood that served as the entrance to the Seaman estate in the 1800s. Today it is completely neglected, covered with graffitti, surrounded by garbage, and crumbling due to exposure and lack of maintenance.
The Inwood Neighbors Association is collecting signatures on a petition to ask the community board and City Councilman Robert Jackson to take action to reclaim this historic structure for our neighborhood. To add your signature to the petition, go to Scavengers at 600 West 218th Street ASAP, or contact Angie Wojak.
The group will present the petition to Community Board 12 at the Tuesday March 2nd meeting of the parks and landmarks committee and ask that the Board endorse saving the arch. (They will continue to collect signatures after the meeting — the more petitioners, the stronger the community’s case!)
The next step will be to get Robert Jackson to approach the Landmarks Preservation people to tell them we need it landmarked and saved for the community. The Inwood Neighbors Association also has the support of a representative of the New York Historic Districts Council who said he will write a letter in support, saying the arch is a historic artifact of Inwood.
The current landlord who owns the property the arch sits on lives in New Jersey and is trying to rent the vacant office space. The association hopes to step in before another business mucks up the space any further.
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Readers’ Comments
I pass by this building frequently on my way to work. It looks like alot of work has been done, and the arch behind the building has been cleaned, the graffiti removed. It also looks like work has been done to strenghten the structure. I am glad that the situation has improved. (Posted by Dorothy on April 23, 2004 03:05 PM.)
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