It looked like residents of a Lydig Avenue building were going to be walking down as many as to six flights of stairs for a few more weeks.
The six-story building at 1144 Lydig Avenue, located at the corner of Williamsbride Road, got its elevator renovated in early November. It seemed like another repair in what is considered a well-maintained building, resident Steven Glosser said.
However, the building’s management had to wait for the renovated elevator to be inspected by the Department of Buildings. The work on the elevator began on Wednesday, November 3, and was over within two weeks, Glosser said. But four weeks later, the elevator still had not been inspected, which was necessary before it can be put back into use.
By the fourth week, Glosser said that he was becoming antsy and the inoperable elevator was becoming a real inconvenience. It was an extreme hardshipfor seniors who live on the upper floors, he said.
“We have seniors and tenants in wheelchairs who were having a difficult time getting downstairs,” Glosser said. “The laundry room is in the basement, and people were having a hard time bringing their clothes down there to be cleaned. It was getting totally frustrating.”
Glosser reached out to Councilman Jimmy Vacca’s office. Jeremy Warneke, who has just been selected the next district manager of Community Board 11, helped Glosser and the other residents of the building by reaching out to the DOB and expediting the inspection, so the elevator could get up and running quickly.
“The Department of Buildings had an original inspection date of December 8, but through my contact at DOB, we were able to get the elevator in the building inspected on November 29,” Warneke said. “I believe the management of the building was trying to do the right thing here. They called me up and thanked me after the elevator was inspected.”
Warneke said that the problem was different from most of the complaints he has received about elevators that are out of order, since the elevator was in fine working condition and just needed to be inspected. Warneke said that most of the complaints about broken elevators he sees come out of buildings where the elevators are not being properly maintained, or need to be replaced.
Glosser said that he was grateful to Councilman Jimmy Vacca for getting the elevator up and running by expediting the inspection. He said that Vacca, and his staffer Warneke, helped make the lives of the building’s residents a lot easier.
“Councilman Vacca and his office really took the bull by the horns on this issue,” Glosser said. “Having the elevator out was really a gross inconvenience. The elevator came out beautiful after the renovation, but we were waiting a long time to use it. Jimmy Vacca is very hands on and is in touch with the neighborhoods he serves.”
