# Another year, 0 days of working escalator **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 29, 2008, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970 "2008-05-29T01:30:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/21 "2008-05-30T04:10:18Z")
Hmmm, it appears we do not live near one another at all. If you would like I will help you come up with a plan to get those escalators working again if you help me come up with a plan to get the A train working on the weekends. We can work together for the betterment of the community! ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/22 "2008-05-30T05:34:22Z")
Actually I was thinking of following your advice quite literally. Although the balloon thing also has a lot of appeal šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/23 "2008-05-30T18:04:06Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] Interesting [article in the Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/nyregion/19elevators.html?sq=escalator&st=nyt&scp=4&pagewanted=all) recently about escalator incompetence in the MTA. [/QUOTE] I like this quote from the article: > [@](#): > > ā€œThere are a lot of problems,ā€ said Howard H. Roberts Jr., the president of New York City Transit. ā€œWeā€™ve laid the problems out, and weā€™re addressing them one by one, and we are making progress, I think, across a wide variety of fronts.ā€ All thatā€™s missing from that classic bit of govā€™t. babble is : ā€œHe stated while making a stroking motion with his hand.ā€ I sympathize with the op. Thereā€™s been so much work on the CTA in the last couple of years that sometimes it seems like you just canā€™t get anywhere without a Tardis. And there are some escalators that seem to be out of order every day. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/24 "2008-06-10T02:42:15Z")
OK, balloons turned out to be too complicated but I did at least [put up some decorations to commemorate the occasion](http://home.earthlink.net/~ah3files/Stuff/EscalatorOneYear.jpg) Now I start making the 311 calls. ---
**Author:** ![Algorithm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/algorithm/32/12204_2.png) [@Algorithm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algorithm)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/25 "2008-06-10T03:12:32Z")
Funny, the _stairs_ have been out of order in the Ontario Airport (ONT) for as long as Iā€™ve been flying down there to visit my parents (about a year and a half now). ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/26 "2008-06-10T03:16:45Z")
OK, Iā€™ll bite: how the heck can the _stairs_ be out of order? ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/27 "2008-06-10T03:30:11Z")
Worn tread can be a hazard to people using it. ---
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/28 "2008-06-10T16:05:25Z")
[QUOTE=Algorithm] Funny, the _stairs_ have been out of order in the Ontario Airport (ONT) for as long as Iā€™ve been flying down there to visit my parents (about a year and a half now). [/QUOTE] IIRC, they were open before 9/11/01. Iā€™ve been flying into ONT for almost 20 years ā€“ it used to be a lot different back in the old days when there were no jetways and the baggage claim was outside. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/29 "2008-06-10T16:12:35Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] OK, Iā€™ll bite: how the heck can the _stairs_ be out of order? [/QUOTE] [How, indeed?](http://www.planetperplex.com/en/item70) ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/30 "2008-06-10T17:02:13Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] OK, balloons turned out to be too complicated but I did at least [put up some decorations to commemorate the occasion](http://home.earthlink.net/~ah3files/Stuff/EscalatorOneYear.jpg) Now I start making the 311 calls. [/QUOTE] Oh Jesus thatā€™s hilarious man! I canā€™t believe you did that! Is it still there? At least the long one isnā€™t broken. Ever use the stop at 59th street on the 4 & 5 platforms? Itā€™s by far my least favorite in the system. It always smells like shit. It has some weird musky smell that is always the same and can never be found anywhere else. I used to use it for work, and it was broken a few times. That thing is like surfacing from a coal mine. It must be at least 3 stories below the 6 train. That sucks though. It appears the MTA has put a priority on longer escalators and I guess the longest ones break often enough that they never get around to the shorter ones. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/31 "2008-06-10T17:11:40Z")
It was ripped down this morning when I went to work. Needless to say the escalator is still broken. 311 call pending ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/32 "2008-06-10T17:20:42Z")
That picture made my happy down deep in my soul, **AHunter3**! Keep calling 311 and hopefully after the embarrassment of your signage and the annoying amount of phone calls they will get to work on your escalator. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/33 "2008-06-10T17:52:50Z")
What do you call an escalator that sits doing nothing for over a year? A teamster! šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/34 "2008-06-10T18:06:04Z")
Out of curiosity, had you tried calling 311 before? I know it sounds hopeless, but who knows? ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/35 "2008-06-10T20:18:00Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] OK, balloons turned out to be too complicated but I did at least [put up some decorations to commemorate the occasion](http://home.earthlink.net/~ah3files/Stuff/EscalatorOneYear.jpg) [/QUOTE] Beautiful. For your next one, maybe you should include a note that says ā€œhey, who cares if you fix it. just unblock it so we can use it as stairs, you idiots.ā€ ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/36 "2008-06-11T13:55:06Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] A year and bit more ago I created [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=417083) about the little escalator at the top of the E/V train station at 52rd & 3rd Ave thatā€™s never in working order. [/QUOTE] No, 5_3rd_ and 3rd is the one they never fix. (Donā€™t it make you feel sick?) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/37 "2008-06-11T19:38:05Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] No, 5_3rd_ and 3rd is the one they never fix. (Donā€™t it make you feel sick?) [/QUOTE] The name of the stop is 53rd and Lex; to get to the specific escalator to which I refer, you get off the train at the 3rd ave end not the Lex ave end; you go up the long long long escalator (which they just finished repairing), veer left past the ticket booth, past an underground store that sellf umbrellas and does watch repair, then finally veer right when the only other option would be to go into a place of business; veering right points you at two skinny concrete staircases (right and middle) and the famous broken escalator. The building itself is 875 Third Avenue, the wavy-ribbon building just downdownwards from the lipstick building. If you go up the steps and step out onto the sidewak and face downtownward (which makes sense, since if you were going uptownward you would most likely have veered right and gone out the lipstick-building exit), the street corner you are facing is 52nd and 3rd. If you turn around youā€™ve be staring at 53rd and 3rd but it would be considerably farther back behind you. > [@](#): > > had you tried calling 311 before? I know it sounds hopeless, but who knows? From time to time. 311 keeps transferring all such calls to the transit authority @ 718-330-3322, I did not take down any info on previous attempts but am logging it now. The escalator has a little plaque embedded in the lefthand wall proclaiming that it is ā€œmaintaned by the Schindler corporationā€. I took a photo of it this morning and will be making calls to their number as well, just in case this thing is somehow not the responsibility of city / transit authority but of the building owners or something of that nature. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/38 "2008-06-13T01:24:20Z")
**AHunter3** : Youā€™re not a Ramones fan, I take it? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970/39 "2008-06-13T03:48:53Z")
Oh! Sorryā€¦ someone had mentioned that in the original thread I think. Call me slow on the uptake. Shindler Elevator Corp says any repair calls would have to come from the city, not from someone like me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-year-0-days-of-working-escalator/450970.md?page=1)