Blog Topic

ANOTHER TRAGEDY IN HOUSING AUTHORITY ELEVATORS
Posted by: William Gentile
December 08, 2008

Sorry for the delay in posting lately, work has gotten hectic. A case that deserves our attention is the tragic death of 5-year-old Jacob Neuman in a New York City Housing Authority elevator. We have detailed the constant problems being experienced in Housing Authority elevators over the last several months. The tragic accident happened in August at a Brooklyn housing project. New details are emerging about the case via the New York Times.

Jacob Neuman was riding an elevator when the power in the elevator was shut down. He attempted to jump down to the hallway floor from the stalled elevator but instead fell backwards tumbling 120 feet down the elevator shaft to his death. .

The new details on Jacob's accident were found in a 52-page report by inspectors with the city's Department of Buildings revealing that the elevator's technical problems were tied to faulty maintenance by the buildings landlord, the New York City Housing Authority.  The shutdown appears to have been caused by the misalignment and wear and tear of electrical contacts in the motor room control panel, which experts say should have been part of the elevator's day-to-day routine maintenance. According to the Buildings Department records, prior to the accident, the elevator had failed 8 of 11 inspections

The accident report reveals that the elevator's technical problems were tied to faulty maintenance by the building's landlord, the New York City Housing Authority, the city's public housing agency.

Both the power shutdown and the opening of the cab door appeared to have been caused by the misalignment and wear and tear of electrical contacts in the motor room control panel, the report said. Other elevator experts and inspectors, including one familiar with the Housing Authority's elevator operations, said checking for wear and tear on electrical contacts and replacing worn-out ones should have been part of the elevator's routine maintenance.

As we detailed previously, members of the New York City Council have demanded that the New York City Housing Authority address this growing problem before more people get hurt.

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