Urban Explorer Fights to Save Railroad
Urban Explorer Fights to Save Railroad
MANHATTAN (CN) - An urban explorer demands $135 million from New York City for shutting down the 19th century tunnel in Brooklyn that he discovered and turned into an historical landmark for the Brooklyn Historical Railway Association.
Robert Diamond, founder and chairman of the Brooklyn Historical Railway Association, sued New York City, its Department of Transportation and Fire Department, and six officials, in Kings County Court.
...
"About a year later, Diamond arranged for a crew from the Brooklyn Union Gas Company to revisit the manhole, and this time he found a very narrow crawl space. He crawled seventy feet to the wall that sealed that tunnel, and with the assistance of the crew, penetrated the wall and entered the tunnel's interior.
"In 1982, the Brooklyn Historical Railway Association was formed, with Diamond as President, in part to preserve, publicize, and provide public access to the historic tunnel, and also to build and operate as public transportation, a moving trolley museum."
http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/12/14/42226.htm
I remember this from way back when. Basically this guy has contracts with National Geographic, Tunnel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and a contract with Rooftop Films for an underground movie festival.
The city now says the place is unsafe and has offered no remedies (ie fix X and Y and you're good to go).
