Transit Worker Falls 15 Feet in Subway Shaft March 2, 2012, 12:00 pm A transit worker fell about 15 feet in a subway ventilation shaft beneath a grate on East 14th Street Friday morning, the Fire Department said. He was not seriously injured. The worker, in his 60s, was on a ladder beneath the grate in front of the IHOP restaurant at 237 East 14th Street, near the Third Avenue stop on the L, about 10:35 a.m., the authorities said. He was inspecting the grate when he fell from the ladder, said Charles Seaton, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The man, whose name was not immediately released, suffered minor neck and back injuries and was being treated at Bellevue Hospital Center.