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Elevator Was Being Worked On Hours Before Freak Death
By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 16, 2011
Modified Dec 16, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 16, 2011
Modified Dec 16, 2011
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Investigators trying to determine what caused Wednesday's horrific elevator death in a Madison Avenue building are focusing on a maintenance company that was working on the elevator hours before the malfunction. A Buildings Department spokesman says the company, Transel Elevator, had sent an unlicensed worker to do electrical work that morning. Why was the worker unlicensed? Well, as you may or may not know, you DON'T NEED A LICENSE TO WORK ON AN ELEVATOR IN NYC. As one union rep tells the Times, "Anyone with a set of tools can work on an elevator." Food for thought as you're climbing the stairs today.
And it turns out the last fatal elevator accident in NYC also involved Transel: an elevator technician for the company fell to his death in September while working in a midtown office building. The Buildings Department will now be looking closely at all of Transel's work across the city. "We're going to review their maintenance protocols," department spokesman Tony Sclafani tells the Daily News. "We will be asking for a list of their clients in the city and over the next few weeks our inspectors plan on conducting a sweep of these elevators."
The building owned by Y&R, where Suzanne Hart worked, remained closed today, and Sclafani says the force of the accident was so powerful that it "has raised some structural stability concerns for the building, and our engineers are conducting a review." Yesterday Transel hired a PR firm, which issued this statement: "We are thoroughly cooperating with the investigation into this tragic incident and our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this time. Since Transel was founded in 1989 the safety of our elevators and the security of those who use them has been, and continues to be, our top priority."
An elevator expert told us yesterday that of the three possible causes of Hart's death, human error was number one. Also yesterday, elevator repairman Jason Jordan was charged with reckless endangerment after a woman was nearly killed in an elevator he had been working on. Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes alleges that Jordan "disregarded industry standards and disabled the safety switch that prevents the elevator from moving when the doors are open."
As for the licensing, the Times reports that the International Union of Elevator Constructors "has been pushing for the passage of a bill, which was introduced in the State Assembly last summer, that would require licensing for people who work on elevators." Currently states such as Iowa, Washington, and Florida require licenses. On average, 27 people die in elevator accidents across the country every year, and the cause is almost always human error.
Tagged
elevator accident
elevator failure
elevators
suzanne hart
transel
young rubicam
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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