Developer covered coal chute with drywall

Don’t get rid of the chute. Although you might feel it’s only been a nuisance until now, these chutes have some good uses — ventilation and light ingress are just two. Have a masonry contractor dig a dry well (3ft square should do the job) in the floor of the chute to absorb occasional excess water. Then do what everyone here has recommended: install a proper, tight-fitting metal hatch. So many Brooklyn rowhouses have these. There are plenty of metalworkers who can do the job.