i can't believe this one...

Plans by city transit officials to sink more retired subway cars for use as underwater reefs could be derailed over environmental concerns.

The program - which deposited 1,261 so-called Redbird cars in waters up and down the East Coast from 2001 to 2003 - is no lock to return next year, when 660 new subway cars go into service.

"We're determining what we're going to do," said Charles Seaton, a Transit Authority spokesman.

The last stops for Redbirds, which date back to the 1960s and are nicknamed for their distinctive 1980s paint jobs, have included waters off New Jersey, Delaware, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia.

But some of the states - including New Jersey - stopped accepting them after 2003 because of concerns that asbestos from the decomposing cars could foul the fish kingdom.