Residents of Bay Ridge apartment building seethe over long-broken elevator

The residents of a six-story apartment building in Bay Ridge are speaking out after going nearly one month without a working elevator.

One of the two elevators servicing the apartments at 9411 Shore Road (located between 94th Street and Ridge Boulevard) has been unusable since Wednesday, July 9 due to a broken motor. The building’s other elevator is functioning, but only services apartments letters G through O, while the broken elevator is supposed to service apartments lettered A through F.

According to building management, the motor will not be completely rebuilt and replaced until the week of Monday, August 14.

“It’s impossible for me to get out. I’m 75 and I have a bad foot,” said Rene Sullivan, who has lived with her husband on the third floor of the A through F side of the building for more than seven years. “There are two people over the age of 80 on my floor and it’s impossible for them too.”

According to the New York City Department of Buildings, an inspector was sent to the building on Thursday, July 27 and issued an order to the building’s owners to fix the elevator immediately. On the day of the visit, the inspector noted that a repair firm was performing tests on the elevator in order to get it back into working order.

“Generally speaking, the owners must get a permit for rehabbing the elevator. As long as you’re continually doing that work, we wouldn’t enforce anything,” said DOB spokesperson Joseph Soldevere. “Sometimes projects can be over an indeterminate amount of time. If inspectors determine they are delaying or the company isn’t there, we can issue violations.”

Soldevere also noted that the DOB would be following up on the matter throughout the next few weeks.

A request for comment from building management yielded a confirmation of the ongoing repairwork.

“The motor on the elevator burned out and it is being rebuilt and re-installed in the building,” said Jordan Kurs, property manager and vice president of TKR Property Services, which manages the building.

According to DOB records, complaints and violations surrounding the building’s elevators are numerous. Besides four complaints filed in regards to the most recent service outage, a complaint filed on December 28, 2016 reports that the “elevator gets stuck constantly. [The] elevator main disconnect switch was shut down by a DOB inspector due to unsafe conditions. Super cut lock once inspector left, turned on elevator, someone got stuck inside.” A DOB inspector responded to that complaint and reported that there was “no violation warranted…at time of inspection.”

Throughout 2016, the building received nine complaints regarding its elevator, including several related to the elevator not being inspected and/or not having a permit. A complaint filed on March 13, 2015 reports that “the elevator is not leveled and malfunctioning.”

Since 2012, the building has been issued more than 20 violations by the DOB regarding the elevator, including one as recent as May 23, 2017, and has racked up $16,500 in fines. The violations range from a Class 3 Severity (lesser) to a Class 1 Severity (immediately hazardous), the latter involving a missing door zone lock.