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Tundra on the tracks: Small iceberg forms inside chasm in Bergen Street station wall

Tundra on the tracks: Small iceberg forms inside chasm in Bergen Street station wall
Community News Group / Julianne Cuba

It’s hole frozen over.

A block of ice protruding from a gaping hole in a wall of Cobble Hill’s Bergen Street station formed days before the “Bomb Cyclone” pummeled Brooklynand many of its subway stations — with several inches of snow on Thursday, according to straphangers, one of whom first noticed the punctured wall weeks ago when foul odors floated from its gap.

“I’m surprised it hasn’t been fixed — it’s not surprising, but it is a little shocking that nothing happens,” said Park Sloper Marcus Baram. “Just another train travesty.”

Baram spotted the stench-emitting chasm on the Manhattan-bound F and G train platform in early December, when its putrid breeze made his already frustrating commute even more unbearable.

“The smell oozing from this gaping hole in the wall of the Bergen Street station while we all wait 30 minutes for an F train this morning is the ‘icing’ on this shi* sandwich,” he wrote on Twitter on Dec. 1.

But when this reporter went to sniff the rupture for herself on Tuesday, the chunk of ice had frozen in place, filling the hole and masking its stink.

The small glacier — which still allowed odorless, cold air to pass through the hole into the station — mesmerized one commuter, who said it recalled natural elements from a far earlier era.

“It’s sort of prehistoric looking,” said Cobble Hiller Garth Horn. “There definitely is a draft coming through from somewhere.”

But another straphanger said he just hopes transit honchos repair the cavity before the ice melts and the smell returns.

“At least we have something vaguely interesting now — at some point this will melt and then we’ll have an unsightly whatever’s left behind it,” said Geva Patze, who also lives in Cobble Hill. “We will have this slightly moldier hole than before to look at.”

Transit leaders and officials from the city’s Department of Environmental Protection are investigating the origins of the chasm before they repair it, according to a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

“We are aware of the damages to the wall. New York City transit-maintenance crews have been working in conjunction with DEP to determine the source of the water leak,” said Marisa Baldeo. “Once they do, the appropriate repairs will be made, and the wall will be retiled.”

Reach reporter Julianne Cuba at (718) 260–4577 or by e-mail at jcuba@cnglocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @julcuba.
Natural beauty: A foul stench used to float from the chasm, according to straphangers, but the ice seems to have subdued the smell.
Community News Group / Julianne Cuba