Results tagged “elevators”

A group of tenants living in public housing is filing a federal class-action lawsuit against the city for its failure to maintain elevators. The NY Times reports that the lawsuit notes that the "widespread and systemic failure to maintain the elevators in its buildings in operable working condition" is a violation of disability and human rights laws. Scrutiny of the NYC Housing Authority's care of elevators came into greater focus after a child fatally fell from a malfunctioning elevator last year, but tenants have complained about malfunctioning elevators for years. The Times offers many harrowing anecdotes from tenants, including: "Phyllis Gonzalez, 61...refers to the times when both elevators go out in her building in the Chelsea Houses as 'double-headers.' Ms. Gonzalez, who lives in a 12th-floor apartment and uses a wheelchair because of arthritis and other health problems, recalled the day a few years ago when, during a double-header, she went down 12 flights of stairs, sitting on one step at a time." The tenants are not looking for monetary damages—just for the NYCHA to fix the elevators in a timely fashion and provide for help the disabled and wheelchair-bound tenants when the elevators are out.

A plan is going to be submitted to the MTA's board for approval this week to spend $1.3 million to install a computerized monitoring system for the subway systems 300+ elevators and escalators. The purpose is to speed the response when elevators and escalators are out of service. Currently, the MTA operates a web page that is updated three times a day to inform riders when escalators and elevators are out of service, but it is reliant on NYC Transit employees or riders themselves to report malfunctions.