The oldest standing building in the Bronx will undergo significant construction to make it more accessible for people with disabilities.
GARY JEAN-JUSTE
by Olivia Young
Following a civil rights lawsuit settlement Feb. 24, the Van Cortlandt House Museum will undergo a long-term capital project to make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The settlement was announced by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton, mandating compliance with the 35-year-old federal law prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life. It was filed in June 2024 against the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Historic House Trust, a nonprofit preserving 22 other historic sites across the city.
The Van Cortlandt House Museum is the latest in efforts by the U.S. attorney’s office to bring city institutions such as Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden up to code.
In the cottage and the house, two iPads must be installed that show a virtual, 360 degree tour of the upper floors that can’t be made accessible, providing audio-visual depiction and closed captions. The city will also level raised areas of the floor, add Braille signage and widen doorframes and hallways.
The parks department installed temporary wooden ramps at the entrance of the cottage after the U.S. attorney’s office issued a letter of found violations. The settlement requires the house to maintain ramp access.
All work on the house must be done before Feb. 17, 2031. A design plan and approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission has to be submitted to the U.S. district attorney by May 2027, and construction drawings are due by the end of January 2028.
A spokesperson from the parks department said the museum will be temporarily closed during construction, and that it is working with stakeholders to determine a schedule.
Debra Travis, chair of the Bronx Community Board 8 Parks and Recreation Committee, said she was not aware of the lawsuit until it was settled, and was surprised to find out the U.S. attorney’s office had become involved. She said an accessibility project that predated the settlement was already in the design phase — a $16.1 million partnership between the parks department and the house trust that would make capital repairs to the roof and exterior envelope, as well as install a small elevator. Parks is expected to come to the board with its design in the coming months.
Travis said she was not aware of any community advocacy for the project, and the parks department did not respond in time to request for comment on what prompted the U.S. attorney’s investigation.
“I’m just happy [the city] is putting money into it,” she told The Press. “We want to see the building be as ADA-accessible as possible, so that everybody can participate … we’ve been advocating for a long time for more community engagement.”
The Van Cortlandt House is the oldest surviving building in the Bronx. It was constructed in 1748 for merchant and landowner Frederick Van Cortlandt as part of the 1,000-acre park that was once the family’s plantation, where enslaved Africans were held until 1823. George Washington stayed in the house twice during the Revolutionary War — in 1776 and 1783 — as the site sat on land that was often contested, and used by both the British and the colonists.
The city bought the house from the Van Cortlandt family in the late 19th century, and the National Society of Colonial Dames, a nonprofit women’s organization focused on historic preservations, restored the house as a museum in 1896.
Margaret Holmes, director of the house, said she is optimistic about the ADA improvements.
“We are fully on board and look forward to the site being more accessible to our community,” she told The Press.
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