# A lot of New Yorkers are taking the stairs today . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 15, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-new-yorkers-are-taking-the-stairs-today/606337 "2011-12-15T20:55:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-new-yorkers-are-taking-the-stairs-today/606337/41 "2011-12-17T13:07:59Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > There’s actually a word to describe what happens when a helmeted diver is hit with a pressure differential: **excarnation**. From \*discontented \*cows. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-new-yorkers-are-taking-the-stairs-today/606337/42 "2011-12-17T14:42:56Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > From \*discontented \*cows. That’s… That’s… That’s… BRILLIANT!! ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-new-yorkers-are-taking-the-stairs-today/606337/43 "2011-12-17T15:21:43Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > From \*discontented \*cows. I didn’t LOL, I actually screeched with laughter. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-new-yorkers-are-taking-the-stairs-today/606337/44 "2011-12-17T17:25:55Z")
> [@ASanders](#): > > I’ve been scared of escalators for years since a freak escalator failure killed someone in NYC. Now I can be scared of elevators too? Great. Time for me to start walking. Being scared of escalators is smart. There are moving and stationary parts that are exposed. A properly maintained (cable) elevator is extreamly safe, though the bigest danger is being trapped. Now a properly maintained escalator is never safe, and the amount of parents that let kids play on them or take them on them when they shound not is discusting. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-new-yorkers-are-taking-the-stairs-today/606337/45 "2011-12-17T17:45:02Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Same thing, the elevator stopped on the way up! So I picked up the emergency phone and again it was out of order! All it would do was call the front desk of the library, and a recording told me the place is closed. Out of curiousity, do you randomly check the phones in the elevators now? Also out of curiousity, if it were out of order, how did it call the library front desk? Is that what it’s supposed to do? ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-new-yorkers-are-taking-the-stairs-today/606337/46 "2011-12-17T18:00:08Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Out of curiousity, do you randomly check the phones in the elevators now? Also out of curiousity, if it were out of order, how did it call the library front desk? Is that what it’s supposed to do? By law in most states it should call a phone that is manned 24/7. But a lot of elevator phones are programmed wrong and the state inspectors are hit and miss on checking phones. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-new-yorkers-are-taking-the-stairs-today/606337/47 "2011-12-17T19:21:20Z")
> [@velvetjones](#): > > I was listening to this on NPR last night and they were investigating whether or not a maintenance worker had disabled the switch that didn’t allow the elevator to move when the doors were open. The story was also mentioning another recent elevator accident so I’m not sure it’s the same one. Maintenance had been done on that elevator just before. The Times said that someone from the maintenance company had died falling into a shaft sometime before. The most disturbing thing is that apparently you do not have to be licensed to work on elevators in NY. Anyone with a toolset can do it. There is a law about this in the legislature - I suspect it will pass quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-new-yorkers-are-taking-the-stairs-today/606337/48 "2011-12-17T21:22:42Z")
> [@Snnipe\_70E](#): > > By law in most states it should call a phone that is manned 24/7. But a lot of elevator phones are programmed wrong and the state inspectors are hit and miss on checking phones. The part about the incorrect programming is what I think happened. I haven’t had the nerve to randomly try the phones though. But I sure as heck watch that yearly elevator certificate that’s displayed in there. If it goes one day past I start harassing maintenance. They usually tell me \*“Oh, it’s been inspected, they just haven’t sent the certificate yet!” \* So I ask them if they have called to find out why it hasn’t been delivered. And I keep nagging until the new one goes up. I don’t think maintenance or security like my little digs, especially when it’s late and I start loudly retelling the stories of my being trapped. But ask me if I care, go ahead, I dare you!😛 ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-new-yorkers-are-taking-the-stairs-today/606337/49 "2011-12-18T14:13:13Z")
And if that wasn’t baad enough, a woman was sprayed with gasoline and burned to death in another NYC elevator: [http://online.wsj.com/article/AP7cb232c010e446c7a24c61bded7bc5d5.html](http://online.wsj.com/article/AP7cb232c010e446c7a24c61bded7bc5d5.html) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-new-yorkers-are-taking-the-stairs-today/606337/50 "2012-02-28T17:40:17Z")
[This story was back in the news Monday because the city completed its review of the accident.](http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/27/city-blames-fatal-elevator-accident-on-poor-maintenance-work/) “Maintenance workers failed to enable a door safety circuit on an elevator moments before an advertising executive was killed after stepping into the elevator in an office tower in Midtown Manhattan, according to officials from the city’s Department of Buildings and the Department of Investigations.” The maintenance company had its license suspended and that license will eventually be revoked. After the accident the city did a review of more than 650 elevators, most of which were maintained by this company, and found dozens of safety violations. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-new-yorkers-are-taking-the-stairs-today/606337/51 "2012-02-28T18:48:58Z")
Holy cats. I’ve never been so glad to work on the ground floor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-new-yorkers-are-taking-the-stairs-today/606337.md?page=2)