# Elevators in America **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184 "2005-08-30T01:10:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/21 "2005-08-30T15:11:40Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > The elevator operators had the greatest union EVAH! Decades after elevators became fully automated, including the ones they operated, their contracts stayed in effect. The operators union may be gone, but at least in NYC, the obsolete infrastructure capital of America, manually-operated elevators survive in certain residential buildings. Most of them, like the one I live in out in the burbs, are “prewars” (bldgs from the 1920s-30s era) and most use the original equipment. Real estate companies are God in the city, and a way to save money can always be found, usually through sharp lawyering. One typical “prewar” I’ve visited has 48 units on 12 stories and _one_ manual elevator. You could wait 10 minutes for that sucker some days. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/22 "2005-08-30T15:24:26Z")
> [@plnnr](#): > > Now THAT"S a cushy gov’t job. > > > [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > > > Eh. It has it’s ups and downs. Thanks, **Johnny**. Now I have rootbeer up my nose from the snort I made when I read that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/23 "2005-08-30T15:28:36Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > One typical “prewar” I’ve visited has 48 units on 12 stories and _one_ manual elevator. You could wait 10 minutes for that sucker some days. Does rent control have anything to do with it? If half my building is paying the same as they did in the 70s I’ll be damned if I go out of my way to make their lives easier. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/24 "2005-08-30T16:45:04Z")
In [The Secret of My Succe$s](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093936), the elevator is turned off by Brantley Foster (Michael J. Fox) whenever he needs a changing room to go from his mailroom duds to his executive. True to life, the alarm bell goes off whenever he hits the STOP button. _This is the only movie elevator that I’ve seen behave like a normal elevator._ ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/25 "2005-08-30T16:57:02Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Does rent control have anything to do with it? If half my building is paying the same as they did in the 70s I’ll be damned if I go out of my way to make their lives easier. Whadya bet. Yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/26 "2005-08-30T17:02:40Z")
Right. Also note that if you cut the elevator cable the elevator will not plummet 50 stories with an earth-shattering kaboom. Otis didn’t invent the elevator, those already existed. He invented the safety elevator that wouldn’t crash if the cable broke. There are little pegs attached to each elevator that run to the cable. When there is tension on the elevator cable the pegs are retracted. If there is no tension (like the cable is cut) the pegs spring out and arrest the fall. However, no elevator in a movie is equipped this way. In the movies all elevators crash if the cable is cut. Just like all those cars equipped with special gasoline-vapor filled bumpers that explode if the car wrecks. Or the phones where the person has to repeat what the caller says: “What’s that? Bob is coming over Thursday? At 8:00? And he’s bringing Esmarelda with him? Yes, I’ve got the handcuffs ready!” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/27 "2005-08-30T17:06:12Z")
> [@](#): > > And we all know that the Door Close button isn’t even hooked up to anything. Believe it or not, the close door button in my apartment building actually does close the door. If you don’t press anything, the door opens, then closes after a few seconds. If you do push the button, the door closes immediately, without the delay. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/28 "2005-08-30T17:12:32Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > The elevator operators had the greatest union EVAH! Decades after elevators became fully automated, including the ones they operated, their contracts stayed in effect. New operators weren’t hired, so the ones we saw were all ancient, but they stayed on their stools until they died. When I was in college in the early 1970s my summer job was as a “vacation relief” elevator operator/doorman on Park Avenue or other expensive addresses in NY, which I got through the union because I had scholarship from them. In my first building, the elevators were entirely manual, run with a throttle-type switch. It actualy took some practice to get the elevator to line up perfectly with the floor (and the crankier tenants would complain if you were a fraction of an inch off.) In another building, the elevator was automatic and all I had to do was push the buttons. However, there the elevator operator was regarded as additional security as a back-up to the doorman against unauthorized intruders. ---
**Author:** ![rpinrd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@rpinrd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rpinrd)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/29 "2005-08-30T21:26:50Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > However, no elevator in a movie is equipped this way. In the movies all elevators crash if the cable is cut. I believe that in the opening scene of _Speed_, where Keanu and his partner are trying to disarm a bomb attached to an elevator, this situation is addressed. If I’m rembering right, there was a device set to cut the cable and another to disable the braking system. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/30 "2005-08-30T21:36:44Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Does rent control have anything to do with it? If half my building is paying the same as they did in the 70s I’ll be damned if I go out of my way to make their lives easier. But then you’ll be less successful in charging 2005 rents to new tenants. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/31 "2005-08-30T21:40:19Z")
What’s wrong with your city/states? When they tried restoring a classic elevator here, they had to get a special permit to allow a non-standard operating elevator. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/32 "2005-08-30T21:40:34Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > However, there the elevator operator was regarded as additional security as a back-up to the doorman against unauthorized intruders. And, I suppose, for a reasonable tip you could get him to help you with luggage, groceries, whatever. The building where I live now is more or less the “flagship” building of the landlords who own it, and they used to have the manager’s office on site, as well as a night watchman, but now there’s no onsite staff at all. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/33 "2005-08-30T21:54:34Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > However, there the elevator operator was regarded as additional security as a back-up to the doorman against unauthorized intruders. Yeah? And I bet that 90-yr-old you were replacing was a REAL effective back up. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![yerba\_buena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7ea924/32.png) [@yerba\_buena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yerba_buena)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/34 "2005-08-30T22:07:16Z")
Although most modern elevators make a sound when you hit the “PANIC STOP” button, some will stop, but not sound an alarm if you (for whatever reason you’d want to do this) force the doors open while the elevator is moving. This worked at my hometown’s library elevator, allowing you to stop in between floors and admire the handiwork of graffiti artists who had figured out the trick in years past. ---
**Author:** ![elsquid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de053/32.png) [@elsquid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elsquid)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/35 "2005-08-30T22:36:43Z")
Oddly enough, I was just watching one of the Star Trek movies (“The Wrath of Khan”) today, and in the movie, someone stops a “turbolift” (futuristic elevator) on the Starship Enterprise in this manner, to have a chat with Captain Kirk. Apparently this plot device will survive into the 23rd century! ---
**Author:** ![Emilio\_Lizardo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Emilio\_Lizardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emilio_Lizardo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/36 "2005-08-30T23:37:55Z")
> [@](#): > > There are little pegs attached to each elevator that run to the cable. When there is tension on the elevator cable the pegs are retracted. If there is no tension (like the cable is cut) the pegs spring out and arrest the fall. IANAEE (elevator engineer) but I have been watching the renovation of the elevator in my building over the last few months. Our saftey system is as follows: The car is equiped with a brake that can grab the guide rail on the side of the hoistway. The brake is attached to a cable that runs up around a sheave in the equipment room, then to a small counterweight that keeps the cable under tension, but does not actuate the brake. The sheave has weighted arms on it, such that if it spins too fast (as it would if the car were falling) the arms fly out and activate a clamp that grabs the cable, which in turn activates the brake on the elevator car. Very Rube Goldberg, but it seems to work. Also, there are eight cables not just one. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/37 "2005-08-30T23:58:49Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > And, I suppose, for a reasonable tip you could get him to help you with luggage, groceries, whatever. Yes. Part of it too was conspicuous consumption - in a fancy building an elevator operator was expected, even if all he did was push the buttons. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/38 "2005-08-31T11:15:06Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > (reading more of the thread) What **Canadjun** said. The Door Open button is required to work in case somebody is caught. A keyed Emergency Stop is used so the elevator doesn’t become the Special Rape Suite, which is also one reason why it was (or in un-updated cars, is) hooked to the alarm (it should be tied to the emergency phone now). However, it didn’t used to be true so that is where the movie/TV convention came from. Same with emergency stop buttons that can be pushed accidentally. I raised a stink when we started selling only Pull to Stop buttons because it was going to take away a plot device used in every sitcom ever, but it’s all a moot point now that the ASME Code is requiring keyed stops. > > The elevator operators had the greatest union EVAH! Decades after elevators became fully automated, including the ones they operated, their contracts stayed in effect. New operators weren’t hired, so the ones we saw were all ancient, but they stayed on their stools until they died. So. We have someone in the elevator biz. And he has chosen the username “dropzone”? Hmmmmm ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/39 "2005-08-31T11:41:48Z")
The stop buttons are there so that people like Bruce Willis can exit between floors, thus avoiding getting sprayed with bullets when the doors open at the next floor. It’s very perceptive of the manufactures to anticipate this requirement. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184/40 "2005-08-31T13:58:04Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > So. We have someone in the elevator biz. And he has chosen the username “dropzone”? I credit the elevator industry, or its contraction in the late 90s, for my presence here. Had I still been employed in the Spring of 2000 I’d’ve never found this joint. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elevators-in-america/319184.md?page=3)