Subway Lawsuit Filed

Residents at a co-op onˆ  Second Avenue and East 69th Street are fed up with the MTA"s plan for a ventilation structure next to their building and have filed a federal lawsuit against the transit authority. The plaintiffs claim that the building design residents saw at a Nov. 30, 2009 Community Board 8 meeting greatly differed from the one described in the 2004 final environmental review. â??It"s a substantial modification than what was shown and analyzed, said Michael Zanlin, the lawyer for residents at 233 E. 69th St. â??They were quite surprised that it had changed over the years without any additional disclosure, without any of the additional technical analysis or community input. In 2004 plan, the proposed design was supposed to look like an ordinary, brick townhouse that would â??blend into the urban fabric, according to the lawsuit. The structure would have measure approximately 25 feet wide, 75 feet deep and four to five stories high. That design would not have taken up both lots. Residents who attended the November meeting were appalled to see a new seven-story design with metal louvers, rooftop cooling fans, ceramic tile and a â??bizarre, oversized, 24-hour, illuminated glass staircase, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiffs refer to the MTA"s final design for the ventilation structure as an â??industrial plant with a â??blatant disregard of the community"s residential character. It would take up the entire footprint of both lots. The transit authority declined to comment on the lawsuit, but spokesperson Aaron Donovan said the ventilation structures are necessary because the tunnel boring done for Second Avenue subway construction allows for a deeper subway tunnel than previous subway lines. â??Street grates are in place in stations that are shallow in depth. Those vents ventilate the subway stations through natural aeration, Donovan said. â??The ventilation plan would be put in place [along Second Avenue] to ventilate tunnels as well as stations and it can's in the event of emergency's actively pull air out of the system. Co-op owners were also angered that the structure would be built up to the lot line of 233 E. 69th St., causing 32 windows in eight apartments along the building"s eastern side to be bricked up. The MTA, however, is within its rights to build to the lot line, just as the co-op building was constructed up to that border. Since the new design was first unveiled at the end of 2009, technical and engineering consultants from the MTA have been meeting with residents to discuss the plans. But the MTA sent a Jan. 13 letter stating that the project would move forward as planned.