Who’s Responsible for Elevator Safety?

 

Residents of a building in Williamsburg awoke shortly after 4 a.m. one morning to the sound of a man screaming. The man was trapped between the floor of the Brooklyn apartment building and the elevator. Though his companions tried desperately to save him, the man died at the scene.

The Department of Buildings lists four elevator violations at the address of this incident since 2013. This includes a June 2014 inspection, which deemed the elevator “unsatisfactory”.

The violations have reportedly been resolved, and the elevator passed a September 2015 inspection, less than a month before the incident, with a “satisfactory” rating. There was some speculation regarding whether the elevator was overloaded at the time of the accident.

Investigators spent at least a day at the scene trying to determine if there were any problems with the elevator. If it turns out that there was a continuing issue, further investigation may be needed to determine whether the building owner was negligent in repairing a problem or if the September inspection was flawed.

It remains unclear whether the victim’s family will seek legal action over his death. Read the full story here.