by Patrick Arden
Chelsea. Facing hard times, the MTA decided to defer $2.7 billion in upgrades and building projects.
But the move worried Stephen Cassidy of the Uniformed Firefighters Association. Among the cuts were at least $366 million in emergency subway fan and ventilation projects.
"In the case of a fire or a terrorist attack, ventilation will be key to ensure that the public is safe," Cassidy said yesterday.
Between May 2007 and April 2008, there were about 1,400 minor fires in the subway.
"Fan plants are essential because they remove smoke from the tunnels," explained City Comptroller William Thompson, who sent a letter to the MTA asking that the capital-program cuts be delayed until a commission appointed to seek financial remedies issues its final report.
Deferred projects can drag for decades. After a 1990 subway fire killed two, the MTA promised to have its aging fan plants in a state of good repair by 2007. Last year, Thompson reported that target date had been bumped to 2028. Now, he complained, it’s sure to be later.
 |
