HOWARD BEACH, Queens (PIX11) — What goes up must come down. Unless it’s an elevator at the Dorchester complex in Howard Beach. In that case, the elevator may be going nowhere.
I had to go back out there earlier this month. And I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it.
There are two buildings. Over the winter they had problems in the Dorchester Two. The elevator was out. Senior citizens, including a World War II vet, were forced to use the stairs if they could.
And I ran into two very unpleasant people. A VP of the co-op board and a foul-mouthed secretary in the management office who actually called the NYPD on me. Even though we were invited in by owners, she claimed we had no righto be there.
Imagine that.
Anyway, we helped expedite the long-delayed elevator repairs.
But now the same situation arose in the other building, the Dorchester One. I’m told that secretary no longer works at the complex. But the problem was still severe. Five months without a functioning elevator!
Ina Rothbaum is 91!
Ina: “I haven’t been out for five months! Who can get out? I can’t use the elevator! How can I walk?
Howard: “Have you tried to talk to anybody in management?”
Ina: “Everybody! I got a big mouth.”
Maria Speranza also owns a co-op in the Dorchester One.
“I carry 20 to 27 pounds of laundry per week and that’s why I got this injury! And schlepping two bags of groceries. This is not fair and it is unjust!”
So, I called up Carl, the boss at Prestige Elevator, the company handling the renovation. He said they’d hit some snags but needed another week.
It turned out he was true to his word. About a week later I went back. The elevator was like new.
And the owners feel liberated.
