CBS New York seeks answers from Metro-North on October retaining wall collapse on Hudson Line
NEW YORK -- CBS New York is following up on the October retaining wall collapse and landslide behind a mansion in Westchester County.
Tons of rock and dirt spilled onto Metro-North tracks in Scarborough, impacting service for weeks.
CBS New York has since obtained the inspection reports for the retaining wall. They raise questions which Metro-North has yet to answer.
Behind a $3 million home, the rock and soil broke through a retaining wall and slid down to the Hudson Line tracks along the river.
David Latham rented the home and told CBS New York in October, "It was unnerving, to say the least, yeah, to see your backyard sliding away. Retaining walls had cracked. Basically, the place was falling apart."
"We have a retaining wall inspection program. We inspect them every three years," said Metro-North President Catherine Rinaldi.
CBS New York obtained the retaining wall inspection reports through a Freedom of Information request. Google Earth satellite images show major work at the home and its backyard, including construction of the retaining wall around 2007.
But Metro-North did not inspect the wall until 2017. It did not respond when CBS New York asked about the delay.
In 2017, inspectors took pictures from the tracks, with "visual inspection only" of the walls above, because they were "inaccessible."
However, land records at the town of Mount Pleasant show one-third of the retaining wall was actually on railroad property.
CBS New York asked Metro-North whether inspectors knew that, or if they contacted the property owner seeking permission to get a close look.
The railroad did not respond.
The 2021 report includes a satellite photo showing a mysterious white line across the yard behind the retaining wall. The collapse roughly followed that line, but inspectors did not flag that or even walk the property.
The report says the "backfill" -- the yard behind the wall -- was in "unknown" condition because it was "inaccessible."
Metro-North would not say if the property owner denied inspectors access, and, again, land records show much of the wall was actually on railroad property.
"Retaining walls are not supposed to fall down," state Assemblywoman Maryjane Shimsky said.
Shimsky serves on the Assembly Transportation Committee. The incident happened in her district. She's asking Metro-North for a meeting to better understand what steps it took -- or didn't take -- prior to the collapse.
"We have to be really scrupulous at this point about checking all these retaining walls, the ones owned by Metro-North, the privately owned ones, and make sure they can withstand the new demands that climate change is putting on them," Shimsky said.
CBS New York asked Metro-North if inspectors missed anything, and if it would take any steps to strengthen or change the inspection program. The railroad did not respond.
Instead, it sent a statement from President Rinaldi saying Metro-North is "planning for future capital investments... [and] prioritizing inspections of vulnerable locations, including retaining walls."
There is no longer much wall to inspect -- just a field of rocks where the terraced yard once stood.
A Manhattan man bought the house in 2021, and was renting it to a tenant. CBS New York reached out to the owner, but did not hear back.
