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New Yorkers Trapped For Nearly One Hour In Hellish Clark Street Subway Elevators


Via Garibaldi 8

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New Yorkers Trapped For Nearly One Hour In Hellish Clark Street Subway Elevators

BY JEN CARLSON IN NEWSON OCT 1, 2018 1:11 PM

clarkstelevatorstuck.jpg

(Photos by Talia Kovacs)

While elevators should be available at every subway station in New York City, there are three stations that are only accessible by elevator, including the Clark Street station in Brooklyn. To get from the street to the platform, and vice versa, you need to take one of the three often over-crowded and hot elevators. Choosing one often feels like Russian Roulette—which will break today? Well, today it was the one on the right. 

Just before 10 a.m. on Monday morning, Talia Kovacs tweeted that she and twelve others, including some elderly passengers, had been stuck on the elevator for five minutes. "What do we do here? No door. Can’t get out. It’s hot. Everyone is sweating," she tweeted at the MTA. 

Had this happened just an hour earlier, there would have been many more people in that elevator, making the situation even more claustrophobic and nightmarish. The elevators are large, but often overcrowded, and almost always stifling hot with very little air circulation. The doors sometimes get stuck in a slightly opened position, and the elevators themselves tend to shimmy when approaching the lower or upper level. They are often breaking or taken out of service. Taking them can be pretty terrifying, but they are the only option at this station as the stairs are not open to the public.

Kovacs explained this morning's scene to us, noting, "People from all walks of life were stuck together because as New Yorkers, we all rely on the subway. Folks tried to communicate with each other using Google Translate." She kept tweeting updates, and the MTA tweeted one response saying, "We know this is a stressful situation. Please know, station personnel are aware and working to get you out ASAP." Still, it took almost one hour to get them out, and before that happened, debris started falling on the elevator. 

"It was about seven minutes of just crashes above us," Kovacs recalled. "No debris actually fell into the elevator but lots of loud crash-bangs, and what sounded like debris falling on us. Many men and women were crying and scared." Since no one had updated them as to what was going on, the passengers in the elevator had no idea what the noises were when they began. It turned out it was the FDNY gaining access. 

"Fifty minutes after we initially called for help, FDNY came and had us climb up two ladders and then many flights of stairs to get out," Kovacs told us. "We were in the elevator for 50 minutes with no answers, and another 20 [minutes] to get everyone up ladders and up the stairs."

The FDNY told us the call came in around 10:08 a.m., and they were on the scene by 10:11 a.m., but had no further information. However, this confirms it took about one full hour to get everyone out of there.

Social media/video: http://gothamist.com/2018/10/01/clark_street_subway_elevator_nightmare.php

We've reached out to the MTA for more information on this incident, and when the elevators will be given a real fix. We'll update when we hear back.

In August, the elevators were taken out of service after at least one broke. At the time, the MTA's Jon Weinstein told Gothamist, "One elevator is out for planned repair. One broke unexpectedly. The other works but because of crowding concerns Transit bypasses the station during the evening rush hour from 4-8. Trains have been stopping at all other times. These elevators were built in 1919, and are all scheduled to be replaced as part of this Capital Plan." When asked for more details on the plan, and a timeline for the elevators being fixed, Weinstein did not respond. 

In 2014, after another incident that left two of the elevators out of service, the MTA's Kevin Ortiz told Gothamist, "Clark Street is a deep station and the stairs are emergency exits only. They are not meant for everyday use. Not to mention, if you are getting off at Clark Street, would you rather climb 10 flights of stairs or ride to Borough Hall and walk back a few blocks?" Yeah, we'd rather not get stuck in a hot elevator for an hour with no communication from the MTA.

Source:  http://gothamist.com/2018/10/01/clark_street_subway_elevator_nightmare.php

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So the elevators from the turn of the last century are starting to fail with some degree of regularity? Color me shocked. I see the report mentioned the recent elevator shutdowns that happened in Aug. One would think that those recurring failures would be an incentive to expedite their repair and possible replacement. It's nice that the replacement plan is there, but it's pretty useless if the whole thing is treated as business as usual while these elevators continue to break down. Even more so since they are the main points of egress out of that station.

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7 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I'm just shocked that they have elevators still in use from the early 1900s. I really thought that was a misprint.

Those don't look THAT old, but they do look like they have been in place for at least 30-40 years and may be due to be replaced.

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21 hours ago, Wallyhorse said:

Those don't look THAT old, but they do look like they have been in place for at least 30-40 years and may be due to be replaced.

The elevators at Clark Street aren't the only ones like that. There's the elevators at 168th Street and 181st Street on the (1) that have caused chaos at both of those stops when they broken. 

On 10/2/2018 at 12:21 PM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I'm just shocked that they have elevators still in use from the early 1900s. I really thought that was a misprint.

That reminds me of that elevator from the 1900s that served Aldwych station until it's closure in 1994. Strangely, that said elevator was one of the reasons why the stop closed. 

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IMO they should dig out stairs to the escalator-only stations. The escalators are really slow, and stations like 168th Street aren't even that deep. The only problem with this would be that it could justify them closing all elevators at times, but that could be prevented. It would cost money to excavate these stairs but it would cause some people who avoid the stations due to the elevators to use them. It also seems like a safety hazard to only have elevators.

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Quote

In 2014, after another incident that left two of the elevators out of service, the MTA's Kevin Ortiz told Gothamist, "Clark Street is a deep station and the stairs are emergency exits only. They are not meant for everyday use. Not to mention, if you are getting off at Clark Street, would you rather climb 10 flights of stairs or ride to Borough Hall and walk back a few blocks?" Yeah, we'd rather not get stuck in a hot elevator for an hour with no communication from the MTA.

There wouldn't be any "if I'm getting off at Clark st" (honestly, sometimes I forget where the station entrance even is ! ).... I'd walk to/from Jay every single day.

Is there really a wonder as to why High st is not too far from double the usage of that of Clark st.....

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On ‎10‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 6:19 PM, W4ST said:

IMO they should dig out stairs to the escalator-only stations. The escalators are really slow, and stations like 168th Street aren't even that deep. The only problem with this would be that it could justify them closing all elevators at times, but that could be prevented. It would cost money to excavate these stairs but it would cause some people who avoid the stations due to the elevators to use them. It also seems like a safety hazard to only have elevators.

Problem here is that Clark St is too deep for standard stairs to be practical, hence the required elevators. This is yet another maintenance problem and the solution is not to make riders suffer, but to actually fix the problem.

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On 10/4/2018 at 7:31 PM, Lance said:

Problem here is that Clark St is too deep for standard stairs to be practical, hence the required elevators. This is yet another maintenance problem and the solution is not to make riders suffer, but to actually fix the problem.

You're likely right.  You'd prbably need to dig out a mezzanine in there too between the basement of the Hotel St. George and the Clark St. station to make such work.

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3 hours ago, Lance said:

If you're claustrophobic, this can become a hellish nightmare.

I don’t know how prevalent claustrophobia is. But assuming a claustrophobic’s point of view would be about as biased as titling a piece Peanut Poisoning Kills Five because some people are allergic to peanuts and that should justify exaggerating their deadliness. What kind of intensifying phrase do we turn to when something really serious goes down?

  • Selina Gomez’s bikini photos are “brave.”
  • Apple removing the headphone jack is “courageous.”
  • Justin Beiber is a “hero.”

This semantic shift is ridiculous.

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Cool. Either way, no one wants to be stuck in a cramped elevator for an hour, regardless of how one classifies the experience. You can call it a hellish nightmare, a mild annoyance, or whatever else suits your fancy - it's still a major inconvenience for those just trying to get somewhere in a reasonable amount of time.

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13 hours ago, CenSin said:

I don’t know how prevalent claustrophobia is. But assuming a claustrophobic’s point of view would be about as biased as titling a piece Peanut Poisoning Kills Five because some people are allergic to peanuts and that should justify exaggerating their deadliness. What kind of intensifying phrase do we turn to when something really serious goes down?

  • Selina Gomez’s bikini photos are “brave.”
  • Apple removing the headphone jack is “courageous.”
  • Justin Beiber is a “hero.”

This semantic shift is ridiculous.

Bravery, especially, has been severely bastardized; You don't even have to do shit to get that label nowadays.

As for intensifying phrases.... Well, just use uncommonly used "big word" as an adjective & throw it in front of whatever that's to be described :lol:

 

 

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