August 23, 2019

"Residents said they had grown used to the balky elevators at the Manhattan Promenade, where monthly rent for a one-bedroom is $3,695..."

"'They always jump between floors,' said one resident who declined to be identified, likening the rides to something out of a horror movie. 'It’s like that Halloween-night thing when you’re in that scary elevator that hops up and down. It’s really bad.'"

From "Graphic video shows moment man crushed by elevator at Manhattan Promenade building" (NY Post).

60 comments:

Ann Althouse said...

You can read the article without seeing the video play, and I did not watch the video myself and do not want to watch it.

Andrew said...

That's a great way to begin the day today. Thanks, Ann!

JML said...

Poor guy. Thoughts and prayers for him and his family.

TML said...

Horrific. Do not watch. Much regret.

Darrell said...

The young man with the backpack was a big help.

Birches said...

I probably would have done the same thing. How awful.

Tank said...

Amazing how fast it happened.

Not gory, worth a look.

John Borell said...

Yea, I watched the video. Yikes. Didn't need to see that.

I can't help clicking that clickbait when it's dangled in front of my face.

I'm going back to read about gender-neutral cabins which suddenly got less weird.

Ann Althouse said...

"Horrific. Do not watch. Much regret."

You can't unsee things.

I never look at things like this — never watched a terrorist throat slashing, never looked at the Kurt Cobain suicide picture, etc. etc.

I linked to it because I think it's important to have respect for the power of elevators. You can see that people were living with a malfunctioning elevator and were maybe getting used to the situation of jumping off an elevator that's not aligning with the floor or whatever.

Ann Althouse said...

"I can't help clicking that clickbait when it's dangled in front of my face. I'm going back to read about gender-neutral cabins which suddenly got less weird."

Well, I said in the gender-neutral-cabins post that it's good to be challenged to develop life skills. This post challenges you to look at the specific real problem but not to succumb to clicking on the video. I, myself, felt no temptation to click on the video. It's completely ingrained in me not to give in to that. Come on! Why are you so impulsive! Do we need a summer camp to help you with that?

Ann Althouse said...

"Not gory, worth a look."

Consider the other occupants of the elevator, who went down with him but survived. They were trapped with his remains for a long time as firefighters worked hard to extract them.

Tank said...

Watching the video does not equal being trapped with his remains. I think you won’t appreciate just how dangerous or fast this was without seeing it.

Greg Hlatky said...

Waiting for the CNN story linking this tragedy to Trump.

MadisonMan said...

Not clicking. Watching people die is not my idea of civilized.

John henry said...

Where are the building inspectors?

Where is the elevator certicifate?

John Henry

Caligula said...

Then again, passenger elevator accidents that cause serious injury or death are exceedingly rare. Mostly when they happen it's because something else happened, such as an explosion.

Whereas construction and mine elevators seem to be significantly more dangerous. Although some of these are due to people riding on elevators intended only for freight.

Then again, I always wondered why high-rise elevators couldn't have backup batteries, or a small generator, that would enable people to get out of the elevator during a power outage.

In any case, I suppose (as usual) one can't trust those "Inspected by [inspector] on [date]" thingies one sees in such elevators.

Ralph L said...

Future Lawsuit I hope won't fail.

ga6 said...

Move to a Trump Tower. They work correctly.

Francisco D said...

You can't unsee things.

Unfortunately, Althouse is correct. It turned my stomach.

rhhardin said...

Woody Allen elevator story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRB_ypEnL50

Rick.T. said...

De Lift!

"De Lift (also known as The Lift) is a 1983 Dutch science-fiction horror film directed and written by Dick Maas. The plot concerns an elevator that mysteriously begins to function intelligently on its own, where victims who go near the elevator or use it are killed."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Lift

rhhardin said...

Free Fall (2014) elevator as protector from assassin

Nonapod said...

I assume 1) now they'll actually fix the elevators and 2) the apartment owners will be sued for wrongful death.

Maillard Reactionary said...

Skipped the video of course.

How does this go on? I thought elevators had to be inspected annually. They certainly were when I worked in downtown Philadelphia. The guys had their gear on and they were rappelling down the shafts to do their thing.

It occurred to me that becoming an elevator mechanic could be a good career choice for a young man. Pretty solid employment prospects. The guy I spoke to said it involved an apprenticeship.

Get crackin', lads. Skip that $60K a year lefty indoctrination camp and start making money.

traditionalguy said...

Ouch. That hurt. Maybe it's a New York Life ad.

Xmas said...

"How does this go on? I thought elevators had to be inspected annually."

It's New York City. Even if someone complains to the right people, it could take years before someone gets around to it. It is funny because of all the cities I've visited, NYC seemed to have the most code violations per building. I had friends that were illegal living in an building. Not squatting, just living in a converted industrial space. Years later, they figured out the black dust that was everywhere was printed toner from a toner cartridge refurbishing business in the same building.

Overlawyered has a bit on serial ADA filers around the US. I'm generally against it, but if there was one city that needs it, it is NYC.

Wince said...

Ann Althouse said...
"Not gory, worth a look."
Consider the other occupants of the elevator, who went down with him but survived. They were trapped with his remains for a long time as firefighters worked hard to extract them.

Why'd he keep trying to pull himself off the elevator? From the video, it looks like the "other occupants of the elevator" might be the reason he could not rescue himself by falling back into the elevator.

At least it wasn't a clean cut like in the movies.

Balfegor said...

The elevator in my DC condo is continually breaking down, or not quite coming to level when it arrives. Office building also has elevator breakdowns from time to time. Had a colleague who was stuck for at least an hour. I hadn't really thought much of it, maintenance in DC is pretty shoddy for everything (see, e.g. our metro system), but this is the nightmare scenario.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Here in Dallas, we had an accident this spring. In a hospital!

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Brake-Failure-Blamed-in-Elevator-Accident-That-Crushed-JPS-Nurse-509652511.html

Michael K said...

Residents said they had grown used to the balky elevators at the Manhattan Promenade, where monthly rent for a one-bedroom is $3,695, according to StreetEasy.com.

I think the city elevator inspector has a 6900 square foot house on Nantucket near the Obama's.

Michael K said...

It occurred to me that becoming an elevator mechanic could be a good career choice for a young man. Pretty solid employment prospects. The guy I spoke to said it involved an apprenticeship.

My nephew is one. He did a Marine Corps enlistment, has a college degree and did a two or three year apprenticeship with the union. Good money but his wife was so greedy, he went back from his white collar job to working in the field. Now he has alimony so he is still taking call. The trouble is you have to live in a big city. He';d love to get out of Chicago but Arizona has few high rises.

John Borell said...

Ann Althouse said...
"Come on! Why are you so impulsive! Do we need a summer camp to help you with that?"

I don't think I've ever gotten called out by Althouse for a comment before. It made me laugh and made my morning.

It's a fair question. It has less to do with impulsiveness than the desire to gather the facts about a topic being discussed. No, I did not need to see the video, but once we're discussing something with a video, then I need to see the video.

That is, reading a story about something with video, I want to see the video.

All that said, while I didn't need to see the video, I admit to being a bit desensitized to things like that. I had several years as a firefighter/EMT back in my youth and many years as a lawyer where death and other bad things are the nature of some cases.

So I suppose knowing myself, while not "needing" to see it, a video like that will not have any lasting effect-the damage was long since done.

As far as summer camp? It would have to be a day camp, I have two little kids and prefer spending nights at home with my wife and them.

God, I love this blog. First one I check out each morning when I wake up (early).

Carry on.

Gilbert Pinfold said...

Meanwhile, deBlasio campaigns in Iowa and New Hampshire while NYC cops are assaulted and buildings go uninspected. Good news is that his daughter can be moved out of her apartment by his personal protection detail, and his wife can preside over the loss of city funds detailed for charities. 0% in the polls.

Yancey Ward said...

"Why'd he keep trying to pull himself off the elevator? From the video, it looks like the "other occupants of the elevator" might be the reason he could not rescue himself by falling back into the elevator."

Yes, it is possible the panic of the people behind him, to get off of an elevator that they thought was falling, is what kept him from saving himself. However, it is also possible that, in the moment, his brain was frozen in the act of getting off. I watch a lot of car crash videos, and in a lot of the cases, just bringing the car to a stop, or even a much slower speed, with the brake is the best plan for avoiding a collision, and yet in video after video, I see people try to swerve without slowing down at all.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Having been a Building Engineer in an older building in my earlier days, we had a Union elevator technician 8 t0 10 hours a day most weeks. We had 8 elevators, so when one goofed, management would lock it out. Usually 5 were operative.

gilbar said...

Good Grief! if a person is SO CHEAP, that they're wanting to sneak by, paying only $3,695 a month rent, for a one bedroom apartment; should anyone (COULD ANYONE) feel ANY sympathy?
</sarc

On the other hand; this fall,
when SEVERAL farmers will die in grain bins... Will the NYT's even know what a grain bin IS?

gilbar said...

will the NY Post even know?

Known Unknown said...

Such is Life in DEBLASIO'S NEW YORK CITY!

Known Unknown said...

"On the other hand; this fall,
when SEVERAL farmers will die in grain bins... Will the NYT's even know what a grain bin IS?

Eh, I don't think that's an adequate criticism of the. There's not a lot of grain bins in the five boroughs.

gilbar said...

Not a lot of $3,695 a month one bedroom apartments, here in West Union

Churchy LaFemme: said...

Once had to work in a German government building in Frankfurt for a week or so. The building was old and equipped with a type of "elevator" known as a 'Pater Noster' (presumably because you said a prayer each time you had to use it).

This was a continuous belt of open cars, continuously in motion and suspended from the top. You entered through non-doored entry-ways where each car was serviced by two openings, one for when it was going up, one for when it was going down. The cars did not stop, you jumped on when they were mostly centered in the opening. If you mistimed a jump, you would probably die, or lose a limb.

Coming from an OSHA-safe building environment I was amazed that such a thing had even been built, much less was still allowed to run in the late 1980s/early 1990s.

Clyde said...

All that money they're overcharging the rubes and they can't fix the flippin' elevator? Oh, well, the lawsuit money should be awesome. Then they can raise the rent another grand a month.

Clyde said...

John henry said...
Where are the building inspectors?

Where is the elevator certificate?


Blue city, blue state, John Henry. Somebody got their palm greased. Hizzoner probably got a cut.

TML said...

If you have a huge imagination (like I do) then I defend my original comment. The video was just a gateway to spinning out multiple continuations of the utter horror inside that elevator with a crushed, possibly at the moment still alive human. Do we know if others were still in there with the guy?

BTW, I will not watch beheading videos either.

TML said...

Rick T., also see Stephen King's excellent short, "The Mangler"

The Vault Dweller said...

I wonder if New York recognizes Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress. There were people who saw that man get crushed and must have heard his screams and death noises. There were other people in the elevator who were literally on top of the dead, crushed man.

paminwi said...

The gentleman that died is the brother-in-law of a local surgeon here in Madison.
You never know how those you know will be affected by something in a far off place.

The Vault Dweller said...

The only thing I can hope is that while it certainly must have been terrifying, the man probably died fairly quickly.

Marc in Eugene said...

The Wikipedia article says that the paternoster elevator or lift got its name because... "because the elevator is in the form of a loop and is thus similar to rosary beads". I thought that was nonsense but looking in the OED there is a list of compounds: paternoster tackle, line, pump, peas, lake i.e. "(a) thing consisting of a long series of identical objects".

One used (end of the 17th c) to be able to refer to a 'paternoster of flax', meaning about ten handfuls-- because of course one Pater is said for... each ten Aves.

Amadeus 48 said...

The article says Sam Waisbrun moved to NYC from the Milwaukee area. I think I know his uncle, a very smart lawyer and investment banker. This is a sad, sad story

Michael K said...

You never know how those you know will be affected by something in a far off place.

Best stay out of NY City, as I do. After all, I might run into Cook.

I was in Bronx Supreme Court to testify as an expert witness in a med-mal case. It was exactly as described in "Bonfire of the Vanities."

Ralph L said...

I was amazed that such a thing had even been built

I've read the Germans have some seriously fucked up toilets, too.

Gilbert Pinfold said...

The Germans have a reputation for pretty horrific showers, too.

The Godfather said...

I've seen a "pater noster" type elevator ONCE -- in a parking garage, used ONLY for the attendants to go get the cars. Crazy to use it for civilians.

I lived in NYC for three years in law school, and I've visited there a lot. Maybe this accident was just a fluke that could have happened anywhere. But I've seen enough screw-ups to think that maybe there's a point where a city gets too big to govern. When my ancestors came to New York in the late 1860's - '70's, they mostly settled in Brooklyn, which was a separate city then.

Trashcan O Man said...

If you have a fear of elevators (or maybe an obsession), Colson Whitehead's The Intuitionist is one of the most strange and original books you'll ever read.

From Wikipedia:
"The Intuitionist takes place in a city (implicitly, New York) full of skyscrapers and other buildings requiring vertical transportation in the form of elevators. The protagonist is Lila Mae Watson, an elevator inspector of the "Intuitionist" school. The Intuitionists practice an inspecting method by which they ride in an elevator and intuit the state of the elevator and its related systems. The competing school, the "Empiricists", insists upon traditional instrument-based verification of the condition of the elevator. Watson is the second black inspector and the first black female inspector in the city.

The story begins with the catastrophic failure of an elevator which Watson had inspected just days before, leading to suspicion cast upon both herself and the Intuitionist school as a whole. To cope with the inspectorate, the corporate elevator establishment, and other looming elements, she must return to her intellectual roots, the texts (both known and lost) of the founder of the school, to try to reconstruct what is happening around her. In the course of her search, she discovers the central idea of the founder of Intuitionism – that of the "black box", the perfect elevator, which will deliver the people to the city of the future."

https://www.amazon.com/Intuitionist-Novel-Colson-Whitehead-ebook/dp/B007YUBCM4/

bagoh20 said...

I did watch it,and it is disturbing, but not really graphic, no blood, just the obvious fatal nature of what happened. Survival was clearly not possible. Also very disturbing was how much the people wanted to avoid the the whole thing the moment it happened, with only one guy seeming to attempt any kind of help. Everyone else was determined to make it not their problem. Except for that one guy, they all seemed pretty cold human beings. If he could have been helped, they were determined to make sure it wasn't up to them to offer anything.

bagoh20 said...

The odds of this happening has got be one of the smallest risks to human life known to man, outside of death by doily, which I would not wish upon anyone.

Mitch Sondreaal said...

The entire tragic event was less than two seconds. And within a half second there was no way to help. So anyone judging the reactions and the fact that they didn’t offer help and were cold humans, there wasn’t time to process and reach out. It was over before they could even react.

bagoh20 said...

No, they did react, they immediately ran away. They didn't even look long enough to determine if help was needed or possible. The intent was clear, to avoid involvement, to escape the problem, not to help, or even figure out is if help was needed by the victim or someone else.

Marc in Eugene said...

It seems that the word 'bead' itself is from 'prayer': "< Gothic bidjan, in Old English biddan to pray". "The name was transferred from ‘prayer’ to the small globular bodies used for ‘telling beads,’ i.e. counting prayers said, from which the other senses naturally followed." Had always presumed that it happened the other way around.