A foiled plot to blow up a pipeline that feeds John F. Kennedy International Airport is raising security questions in Bay Ridge.

Buckeye Partners owns the pipeline, which runs under homes in the section of Brooklyn and other parts of the city. Residents complain an opening to the pipeline sits unguarded behind the Bay Ridge Towers. They say there are no security cameras, fences or any other security measures.

State Sen. Martin Golden has written the Department of Homeland Security about the problem. He says he hopes local, state and federal authorities will take the issue seriously and secure the pipeline opening.

"We should get the same respect," Bay Ridge resident Laura Fritz said. "We should get the same concern ... It's an accident waiting to happen and people are turning a blind eye and deaf ear to the whole situation." She also said all New Yorkers, not just those who live in Manhattan, deserve protection.

Federal agents said Saturday they foiled the plans of a homegrown terrorist cell to blow up the pipeline and, subsequently, the airport. Three men are in custody, including 63-year-old alleged mastermind Russell Defreitas. Defreitas, a retired JFK cargo handler, was arrested Friday in Brooklyn. Kareem Ibrahim and Abdul Kadir are in Trinidad awaiting extradition. Authorities in Trinidad are seeking a fourth suspect, Abdel Nur.

Defreitas is scheduled to attend a bail hearing in New York Wednesday.

AP wire reports contributed to this story.

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