Battle Over Atlantic Ave Tunnel Tours Continues
Yesterday City Room had an update on the battle between Bob Diamond and the Department of Transportation over the very popular tours Diamond runs of the Atlantic Avenue train tunnel. In December the Department of Transportation stopped allowing access to the tunnel because of safety concerns raised by the Fire Department. Diamond filed a notice…
Yesterday City Room had an update on the battle between Bob Diamond and the Department of Transportation over the very popular tours Diamond runs of the Atlantic Avenue train tunnel. In December the Department of Transportation stopped allowing access to the tunnel because of safety concerns raised by the Fire Department. Diamond filed a notice of claim last month, according to City Room, “a precursor to bringing a lawsuit against the city demands that the tunnel be reopened to him and says he wants $2.5 million in damages. ‘If they don’t want to open the tunnel, they have to pay me for my intellectual property,’ he said. ‘I discovered the tunnel and spent 30 years of my life developing and publicizing it into a historical treasure and tourist destination. That is worth money.'” Here’s hoping there’s a swift resolution to this one, as it would be a shame if access to the tunnel—not to mention Diamond’s life work—went out like this.
Fighting to Return to a Subway Vault [City Room]
Photo by Susan NYC.
Yup, it is my money as a tax payer I (along with you and millions of others) own that hole. The money from that tour could go to a school in that ‘hood, or to fix potholes, etc. I love how people are standing behind a man who is stealing from them.
“This is an issue of the wallet, not the heart.” Is it YOUR wallet? NO? So, why do you care?
I have taken the tour. It’s an old tunnel. Diamond is the one who makes the tour, not the tunnel. If they chose to have someone else run it, Diamond should be the only one giving the tours.
I don’t recall signing a waiver, but that would be easy enough.
Eh, re-popularized vs re-discovery is really a matter of semantics. I fully agree that Bob Diamond should be recognized and honored for what he has done for the tunnel.
From what I have read, Diamond’s issues with the city go back a ways and many were related to his Red Hook Trolley project.
I do participate in a transit-oriented message board where Diamond comes up a lot (and occasionally posts), and there is a lot of mixed feeling about him there.
I don’t know what the real driving force is with the current permit/safety issue. There does seem to be some oddness there.
However, I still think in the bigger picture that the tunnel is bigger than one person in general, and this one person is specific.
I think an ideal solution would be for the City to throw a few thousand of dollars at Diamond to buy out his permit, then open the tour up to other organizations. The Transit Museum seems like an ideal group to manage the tours, but I’m sure there are plenty other out there.
FDNY’s issue seems to be with safety and egress – how to get those 100 or so people out of a hole in the ground in case of emergency. As I recall, this started when Diamond wanted to show movies down there (or maybe he was letting someone else show movies). Movie theaters, fire and egress are pretty much red flags for FDNY, legitimately so.
If all of this is just a way for the City to renege on its deal with Diamond, that sucks. But if FDNY is looking out for public safety and addressing (what appear to be) legitimate safety issues without carrying anyone else’s water, that’s a different story.
BHG- and until you can talk without so much anger, you should stop talking too. Done here.
bxgrl: Until you’ve: taken the tour, dealt with Bob, talked with his student employees, or have any knowledge about this you really ought to stop talking. This is an issue of the wallet, not the heart.
I haven’t, bhg but so what? I think its amusing how angry people are over this guy when he’s done nothing wrong. People pay less than that for a curb cut permit and that ties up the public street everyday of the year. Up to now the City had no interest in conducting tours so why shouldn’t he be allowed? Again- why so much anger on this guy? What’s he ever done to you?
BHS-I do believe in giving credit where credit is due. Yes the tunnel was on historic maps but maps and sites change drastically over the years and this guy is the one who actually uncovered it. re-popularized would mean it had been in the public eye, lot popularity and then became popular again. that was not the case.
He has managed the tours all this time- as I’ve heard from some people, his quirkiness is part of the charm. So he’s feeling a little territorial- why not? And he should be angry- the City is arbitrarily breaking an agreement with hm.
That agreement calls for him to pay $250 a year. That’s just ridiculous and whoever negotiated w/ Bob on behalf of the city ought to lose their job. Non profits are (sometimes) a huge scam to avoid accountability. Bob seems to have no accountability. I ask again, where does all the money go? Something smells here. Tell me, bxgrl, have u ever been on this tour, seen the lines, etc? Bob is erratic and a self important tour guide who thinks he owns the hole. He does not!
I have seen some debate on the rediscovery vs. re-popularized issue. The tunnel is clearly shown on historic maps, and a variety of city agencies and utilities knew it existed. We are not talking about finding Troy.
Even if he did truly rediscover it, that does not automatically make him the ideal person to manage it 20+ years later.
He has done a great job acting as cheerleader and tour guide and I respect that has managed to make a living off it.
However, his overstated claims of discovery, claims of intellectual property rights, huge focus of finding a mythical steam engine, threats to leave the city, and repeated conspiracy theories about how the city/DOT is out to destroy him make me question his ability to best manage the tunnel tours.
I also think a historic asset like this is much larger than one person, and should not be controlled by only one.