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Video Shows Riders Trapped in Subway Elevator


mark1447

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IRT Broadway Line @ West 181st Street / St. Nicholas Avenue

 

More than two dozen straphangers, including a young girl with asthma, were trapped in a stalled subway elevator in Washington Heights for an hour in an incident caught on video.

 

Rescue workers eventually freed the 28 passengers who had been trapped in the 181st Street station elevator on the No. 1 line Friday night. The rescue was filmed by a tourist who was among the trapped people, which was first reported by NYC The Blog.

 

“It was difficult because it was so hot," said Isabella DiMarco who captured the video on her cell phone. "Maybe 80 degrees or more.”

 

In the video, passengers complained of rising temperatures and no air circulation. By the time a firefighter broke through the ceiling, a young girl with asthma was visibly frantic in the confined space.

 

People around the girl attempted to cool her by fanning pieces of paper, and the responding firefighter offered words of comfort.

 

"It's all right. It's okay. We're here," he said. "I'm not going anywhere. Everything's okay. I know it's hot."

 

A ladder descended from the elevator hatch and the girl, who by then had to go to the bathroom, was among the first to leave. All passengers were transferred to an operating elevator and brought up to street level.

 

FDNY confirmed that firefighters from Ladder 45 in Washington Heights responded to an emergency call about the elevator at approximately 8:37 p.m.

 

Two people were examined for medical issues, but refused further treatment, FDNY said.

 

In a statement, the MTA said newly-installed hoist ropes were to blame. They were adjusted on Saturday and the elevator has since returned to service.

 

Video:

 

 

 

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Straphangers-Trapped-in-Crowded-Subway-Elevator--119628709.html

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there's always the tracks.

 

Come on that's not a safe way out.I agree that those stations need stairs in emergencies or for people that are claustrophobic.And the MTA must test those elevators before there put in service after improvements.

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Realistically, going up several flights of stairs is not a great alternative [i don't believe there's much ventilation in [i]enclosed underground[/i] stations in general]. The station is just too deep below ground. Unless the person was a fitness nut or insane, I don't think the average person would want to climb up that many stairs [however many it is] when going to the next stop 'closer to the ground' would be better [and double back via bus].

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I don't understand why they don't have stairs @ 168 St or 181 St. If theres a fire or some emergency, people can't get out directly. I wonder if thats a fire hazard.

 

They do have emergency stair case. All those elevator subway stations have emergency stairways.

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Realistically, going up several flights of stairs is not a great alternative [i don't believe there's much ventilation in stations in general]. The station is just too deep below ground. Unless the person was a fitness nut or insane, I don't think the average person would want to climb up that many stairs [however many it is] when going to the next stop 'closer to the ground' would be better [and double back via bus].

 

Right but I don't know. Walking a lot of steps,or getting risked by being hit by a train...Take a break if you have to while your walking up the stairs.

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Okay I'm feeling like people have completely ignored my post stating that each and everyone of those stations have emergency stairways to get out of the stations.

 

I never ignored. I know those have EM stairs, but how can it help if the Stair cases are next to the Elevator Entry in the Mezz? Or am i wrong?

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Okay I'm feeling like people have completely ignored my post stating that each and everyone of those stations have emergency stairways to get out of the stations.

 

Not ignoring your post, just responding to a person's hypothetical scenario. You being a station agent would know more about the procedures than I would.

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I never ignored. I know those have EM stairs, but how can it help if the Stair cases are next to the Elevator Entry in the Mezz? Or am i wrong?

 

They are next to the elevators on the platform. They are located no more than twenty feet away from the elevators. You can recognize the doors by there red and white vertical stripes on them. When I work these stations it's my duty to know that exact locations of these stairways because in most of the stations im located all the way downstairs my self.

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I've used some of those stations before and I'm wondering just how far underground they are? I know that they're deep, but I really wasn't wild about using those big filthy elevators, but there isn't another option. I mean if they have emergency stairs, then why not create another area where people can take the stairs or escalators if they choose to? Knowing the (MTA)'s history with broken elevators I would not want to live anywhere near a subway line that had to rely solely on elevators to get in and out of the subway station. I believe when I got off at the 181st station a few years back, one of the elevators was broken then. :P

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I've used some of those stations before and I'm wondering just how far underground they are? I know that they're deep, but I really wasn't wild about using those big filthy elevators, but there isn't another option. I mean if they have emergency stairs, then why not create another area where people can take the stairs or escalators if they choose to? Knowing the (MTA)'s history with broken elevators I would not want to live anywhere near a subway line that had to rely solely on elevators to get in and out of the subway station. I believe when I got off at the 181st station a few years back, one of the elevators was broken then. :P

 

Only 181st and 168st on the 1 train soley rely on elevators to get out of the stations. All the rest have alternative exits via tunnels and escalators.

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Only 181st and 168st on the 1 train soley rely on elevators to get out of the stations. All the rest have alternative exits via tunnels and escalators.

 

Yeah, not a good idea IMO. Wasn't it the 181st station that had the roof cave in something over one side of the tracks?? I heard they were taking a while to finish that, but never heard if they were done with it or not??

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Yeah, not a good idea IMO. Wasn't it the 181st station that had the roof cave in something over one side of the tracks?? I heard they were taking a while to finish that, but never heard if they were done with it or not??

 

Yes indeed it is the same station. And they haven't done much progress there yet either.

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Don't mean to laugh, but that is really pathetic. A real disaster. :tdown:

 

All of the make shift support beams are still there from 2009. I couldn't believe it my self, I hadn't been through that station in about a year and a half, and it looked no different than when the situation first happened.

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All of the make shift support beams are still there from 2009. I couldn't believe it my self, I hadn't been through that station in about a year and a half, and it looked no different than when the situation first happened.

 

All they did was wait for the media to stop talking about it and now nothing is happening. All before when the media was reporting on the story, the (MTA) was saying that they would be working to get the station back in order.

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All they did was wait for the media to stop talking about it and now nothing is happening. All before when the media was reporting on the story, the (MTA) was saying that they would be working to get the station back in order.

 

Yep that's exactly what they did/do lol. If you ever pass through there you will be shocked to see it still looking like it did from august 2009.

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I've used some of those stations before and I'm wondering just how far underground they are? I know that they're deep, but I really wasn't wild about using those big filthy elevators, but there isn't another option. I mean if they have emergency stairs, then why not create another area where people can take the stairs or escalators if they choose to? Knowing the (MTA)'s history with broken elevators I would not want to live anywhere near a subway line that had to rely solely on elevators to get in and out of the subway station. I believe when I got off at the 181st station a few years back, one of the elevators was broken then. :(
this is sad no one knows how far down that station is, for one that station is the lowest station in the city its from top too that mezzanine 5 stories down, no one will go down and up stairs like that anywhere, this has happened so many times before but its been a long time since it has.
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this is sad no one knows how far down that station is, for one that station is the lowest station in the city its from top too that mezzanine 5 stories down, no one will go down and up stairs like that anywhere, this has happened so many times before but its been a long time since it has.

 

It's 120 feet deep, and actually 191st the next station north is 180 feet deep and is the deepest station in the system.

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