Old subterranean stream causes NY building dispute

New York

WITH New York City's overheated real estate market showing no signs of cooling, disputes over developments tend to sprout like weeds. Many feel familiar: A project is too big or too unsightly and will blight a neighbourhood or force out people of modest means or end the long run of a beloved mom-and-pop shop.

But a battle unfolding on the Upper West Side of Manhattan comes with a twist that if not unprecedented, is certainly unusual - a meandering subterranean river that is just one of many such streams that once coursed through the pristine and undeveloped island centuries ago.