In 1907, New York’s subway company bought an 1847 Brooklyn townhouse and gutted it; more than a century later the restored-looking façade still hides a ventilation shaft and emergency exit for the tunnel below
At first glance, 58 Joralemon Street looks like another historic Brooklyn Heights brownstone on a quiet, tree-lined street. Its dark windows and Greek Revival facade blend into the neighbourhood, but the building is not an ordinary home. It conceals a subway ventilation shaft and emergency exit stairway serving the tunnels beneath the East River. Smart…