By CHRIS GLORIOSO wpix.com

11:15 p.m. EDT, April 14, 2010
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS (WPIX)—
Sandwiched between two Brooklyn Heights homes is a curious building that's one of the worst kept secrets in the five boroughs.

The NYPD doesn't want you to know the address, but the facade of this faux brownstone is like something out of "The Matrix." On the outside, it looks like a 3-story residence, complete with shutters and eerily blackened window panes. Behind the front wall is a gritty stair well that leads to an MTA subway shaft with what looks like electrical and ventilation equipment.

"It's crazy. It's kind of creepy to me," said Larry Baldwin as he walked by. "I would feel weird living next door."

The mysterious exit is actually one of many "secret" emergency exits connected to subway tunnels in Brooklyn. They often mask ventilation units that might otherwise be considered eyesores, not in keeping with a neighborhood's character.

It's not hard to spot the Brooklyn Heights brownstone is an impostor. It even has a stand pipe attached labeled "4,5 Line NYC Transit."



Judy Scofield Miller has lived next to the phony building since 1991. Because the structure is really just a fake front wall and a shell behind, she enjoys a double back yard.

"The MTA building is the brick area and both buildings are about 24 feet wide, so therefore we get the benefit of having a very large back yard which is unusual in brownstone Brooklyn. "

The decoy structure is owned by the MTA, but a transit spokesperson referred questions about the hidden subway exit to the NYPD. Though several blogs have already published photos of the decoy brownstone, the NYPD asked PIX 11 News to avoid revealing the building's location out of concern for subway security.