Body Of Woman Killed In Elevator Accident Wasn't Removed For Hours

(Laura Fegley)

The body of a woman killed in a freak elevator accident yesterday was not removed until nearly 7 p.m.—seven hours after she was crushed to death. And the other passengers in the elevator who helplessly looked on as she died were not freed for over an hour. When they finally got out, they were "in severe distress," Fire Lt. Glenn Berube tells the Post. But it took rescuers much longer to remove Suzanne Hart's mangled body from the elevator shaft.

Hart, a 41-year-old new business executive at Y&R (formerly Young & Rubicam), was stepping into the elevator in the lobby around 10 a.m. when the elevator suddenly shot upward. Police sources tell the Times "it dragged her until she was pinned between the elevator and the wall, between the first and second floors." Witnesses told CBS 2 the car went up halfway to the 2nd floor before the Hart's body stopped the momentum of the elevator. She was pronounced DOA. John Hanna, who owns a suit store next door to the building, told DNAinfo he heard "bloodcurdling yells" after the accident.

One employee who was in another elevator at the time tells NY1, "The elevator was either next to me or one over, I heard this loud 'boom, crash,' and the whole thing kind of shaked. I got off and I didn't really think too much of it, then I heard somebody died. It was pretty extreme. A couple of the girls on my floor were crying and really panicked."

Yesterday one employee told us, "It's an old building (Y&R has been here since the 20s). The elevators are slow and a bit buggy sometimes." A "city-government source" tells the Post the elevator was taken out of service in 2003 because of an unspecified "hazardous safety violation" but that had since been fixed. in June, inspectors found several unspecified “administrative” violations of safety rules regarding the elevators. City sources tells the Post the violations are still listed as “open” on Department of Building records but "appear to offer no explanation for yesterday’s tragedy."

It's not known why the elevator malfunctioned. But a former Y&R exec tells the Times the elevators were old and creaky: "They weren’t the kind of elevators that you stuck your hand in to catch the doors because they wouldn’t stop." Employees were told to work from home today, and Y&R issued this statement:

We are deeply, deeply saddened to confirm one of our employees has died. Our focus at this moment is the well being of our employee’s family and our larger Young & Rubicam family. As you can imagine this is a great emotional shock to all of us. We ask for your cooperation and understanding as the proper authorities look into this terrible accident.

Speaking briefly to reporters outside her Cobble Hill home last night, Hart's boyfriend Chris Dickson said, "She’s a beautiful person, and I don’t have words for this."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on December 15, 2011 10:49 AM

Comments [rss]

cyncity.org

Ok, I am going to put this post with a disclaimer as I don't want it to be flagged as inappropriate. If you are sensitive, do not read this
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I am deathly afraid of elevators. I have a lot of bad experiences with them. In regards to my last example, the elevator was moving, semi open. It was incredibly disturbing because it was stopping every foot because the safety mechanism was trying to kick in but couldn't. That elevator was awful. One time it stopped and opened with half the elevator pass the bottom of the lobby. You do not want to see the inner workings of a shaft, believe me. The elevator used to bounce when it stopped and at the first floor. I remember my neighbor was stuck in the elevator and it was open and about 2 feet were visible from the floor, so they actually slipped through and dropped down instead of waiting for the fire department. I wanted to scream at her. One of my worst experiences was in one of those fancy elevators in Midtown. I got in at the 14th floor and the counter reset to Lobby. I pressed all the buttons and it would not stop. I waited in total fear asking myself what was going to happen when there was no more floors. It passed the last floor and hit the top of the shaft incredibly hard and bounced back down. It opened and I got out so fast. Anyway, if you are the type of person who isn't afraid of anything but have been looking for a good scare, read the 3 links I provided above, especially the Houston one. Then go and see the movie De Lift from 1983. You will not ride an elevator for a year. That being said I hope for peace for the family and a retooling of the current laws in NY. I keep asking myself why did this have to happen? Why couldn't it have been just her leg? I am kind of heartbroken and upset and I didn't even know her. I wish she was still alive.

DigsInNY

I am devastated for the tragic loss of this woman and for her family, friends and co-workers. I cannot seem to wrap my brain around how this could've possibly happened. How on earth can an elevator shoot up with such speed to crush a person between the wall in between floors as she was getting in? The gap isn't that wide my heart breaks for her and I sincerely hope her death and pain were instant :(

JarekAF

It appears that she did not die instantly. She suffered. As unfortunate as that may be, it does mean, that her estate can sue for pain & suffering, which can often be a windfall. If her death was instantaneous, or if she was immediately unconscious and unable to feel, then her estate could likely only collect her estimated future lost wages. But pain & suffering . . . bam, that'll tack on a lot.

Guest

What the hell does the headline of this post have to do with anything? What does the amount of time it took to extract her body have to do with this horrible tragedy?

romkrr

I worked at Y&R in the 80's. They were owners of that building - it was a big deal when they announced to us all that we owned our whole space.
NYTimes wrote on 12/5 that they were moving to a new space:

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nyti...

WorksInDUMBO

oh this is just terrible. My condolences to her family and to Mr. Dickson. So sorry.

Ny Injury Lawyer

A ticking time bomb. why wasn't that elevator up to code? telephone, door locking mechanism, proper Braille, door protection, etc .. required by the NYC Department of Buildings. As a injury attorney in New York -- I smell negligence, that cost lives, I'm sickened!

whiteiris

Sheldon, is that you? Sickened all the way to the deceased's home to give out your business card. Why don't you wait for the results before you make accusations.

Mike Tattoo

Come on now, how often do you hear of a lawyer ranting about how
something has sickened them. Sickened, I say!

Rocknrope

This is truly a hell of a tragedy, not only for the obviously grisly way it occurred, but also the unbelievable horrific timing. The elevator malfunctioned and lurched just as she stepped across the entry. Hell of a thing.

cyncity.org

This freaks me the hell out. As a person who lives in a building with some of the worst elevators (breaking down daily), I am always afraid of a death like this. I find it ironic that I read how NYC has some of the "most stringent laws" in the country regarding elevators and escalators, yet we have some of the creepiest, freakiest deaths. Several of which were recreated in the Final Destination series (albeit possibly coincidentally).

http://www.nytimes.com/1995/01...

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/09...

Madly Hatting

Why do I feel like we live in the same building based on your elevator description?

cyncity.org

The elevators are brand new and people get stuck in them about at least 3 times daily. But hey it's better than the old ones, sometimes they would move up and down half open.

Greg Froober

The laws are strict regarding elevators. And elevators are specifically designed to be very safe as long as they are maintained exactly as they are supposed to be.

However, the problem is that many of the repairs needed (especially on old elevators) are extremely expensive. So what happens is that the landlords find ways to avoid and/or delay necessary maintenance and repairs. There are always ways to do that when gov't beauraucracy is involved.

In my years in real estate I've seen all types of situations like that. the most extreme was a guy who had a "secret" elevator that he never let them inspect. They knew the elevator was there, but he told them that it was not in service so they left it alone. He did that because the only people that used it were his maintenance workers. That elevator is a ticking time bomb

cyncity.org

There is a very interesting article on this sort of thing:
http://www.houstonpress.com/20...

bawlsdeep

Uh... I hate you for posting that article. Seriously.

cyncity.org

Awwww. Don't hate me. It was an incredible read. Sure, I felt like throwing up afterwards, but knowledge is power.

Sunny Smith

why? I'm a Houstonian and remember this vividly.

whodiditandran

Lord, I didn't think this story could get any more horrific. It just did. My sincere condolences to this poor woman's family.

SFNY

Deepest condolences to Dickson, the rest of Hart's friends, family, and coworkers, and those poor individuals in the elevator. May they all find a way to heal this awful wound.