The Fake House.

I knew it was there, but if I didn't remember to look I would have just walked by.

Or maybe I subconsciously thought to look because I walked by.

But this townhouse is not what it tries to look like.

It's an airshaft for the Lexington Ave IRT.

I knew to look because it is the Eighth Best Fake Building Facade in NYC according to Scouting NY.  Mar Scouting NY also says it is not the only fake house the MTA built to hide an air shaft.  There are more in The Bronx

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The townhouse at 58 Joralemon Street in Brooklyn Heights was built in 1847 as a private residence and in 1908 it was converted to "the world’s only Greek Revival subway ventilator".^[1] The ventilator also serves as an emergency exit from the eastern end of the Joralemon Street tunnel which carries the IRT Lexington Avenue Line between Bowling Green and Borough Hall, where it intersects the IRT Eastern Parkway Line.^[2]  The property is owned by the MTA and as of 2010 was valued at $2.8 million.^[3] The exterior facade and black Lexan windows are the result of a 1999 agreement with the Landmarks Preservation Commission to help the facility blend into the neighborhood.^[4]

So If I want to find a photo of the property before it was an air shaft it would have to be from before 1908,

The Brooklyn Heights Blog  knows it there but makes fun of the people who discover it  here.

If if you look at this blog you can see
what it looks like through a slit in the door

[Image: A view through the front door of
58 Joralemon Street; photo by BLDGBLOG].

Below is the Streetview.  It fits in ok.  and it should it was built when the rest were back in 1847 and people lived in it for 60 years.



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