Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is a New York Plaintiff's personal injury law firm specializing in automobile accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, police misconduct and all types of New York personal injury litigation.

Articles Posted in Elevator and Escalator

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A young man was found dead in an elevator shaft at a public housing building in the Bronx, NYC. 20 year old Tito Morales died after he got crushed between the wall and the elevator car. Morales was visiting his girlfriend last night at the Adams Houses in the Bronx. He went out to buy cigarettes at 3:00 am and was found unconscious crushed between the 18th and the 19th floor an hour later. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Residents of the building said that they were often getting stuck in the elevators and that they would sometimes wait for hours before being rescued. Another resident mentioned that the only way to get out was to try to get out through the top.
It is not clear yet what exactly happened to Tito Morales. The NYPD is invetigating the elevator accident.

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Chris%20Sallay%20and%20Tony%20Gair.pngOur Partners, Chris Sallay and Anthony Gair settled a New York County elevator accident case for $1,725,000 on behalf of a 64 year old woman. The plaintiff was a passenger in an elevator car traveling at 1000 feet per minute when it came to a sudden, abrupt stop causing her to sustain a severe fracture of her left ankle for which she has had multiple surgical procedures and which has left her with significant disability as a result.

Defendant Elevator Corporation was the sole entity responsible for the safe maintenance, service, operation and repair of the subject elevator. They had a resident elevator mechanic assigned to the subject building on a full–time basis whose duty it was to inspect service and maintain the elevators and their parts in a safe condition. Three days after the subject accident, the elevator was inspected by an elevator inspector with the local Building Department who concluded that the rope grip mechanism on the governor was defective and violations were issued. Defendant strongly maintained that they had no knowledge of the defective governor and that a problem with the power in the building caused the subject accident.

The plaintiff was extricated from the elevator by EMS and was taken via ambulance to a local emergency room. She was diagnosed with a trimalleolar fracture of the left ankle. Over the next year, she underwent 3 surgical procedures and months of physical therapy. Following extensive settlement negotiations with representatives of defendant elevator company, a settlement was reached in the amount of $1,725,000 on the eve of trial.

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A man died in an elevator accident last July at the 49ers stadium construction site but OSHA recently concluded that Schindler Elevator Corp., the elevator Construction Company and project’s general contractor, Turner/Devcon, a joint venture between Turner Construction Co. of New York and Devcon Construction Inc. of Milpitas didn’t merit sanctions.

The victim, Donald White, who was 63 year old, had worked all his life in the elevator construction trade. He was hit with an elevator counterweight while on a ladder at the bottom of the shaft at the 49ers stadium construction site in Santa Clara.

Just before the accident happened, White communicated with another co-worker who was operating the elevator and asked him to go up in the elevator to retrieve a tool. As the elevator started to move, for some unexplained reason, White stayed where he was, standing or or sitting on an A-frame ladder in the pit. Nobody witnessed the accident.

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Please note that for those of you handling New York City Elevator Accidents the old system of Local Law 10/81 inspections and two year tests ended on January 1, 2009. The new rule published on April 14, 2010 requires the following inspections and test cycle:

“(5) Inspection and test cycle.

(i) Category 1. Except as otherwise provided by the commissioner, January first through December thirty-first of each year.

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The following basic items should be included in plaintiff’s initial Notice For Discovery and Inspection in an Elevator Accident Case occurring in The City of New York and adapted in other areas of the State. See below.

1. A copy of the contract with (Defendant Elevator Co.) pursuant to which they provided maintenance for the elevators at (Defendant Building Owners).

2. All work records for the subject elevator for a period of five (5) years prior to the accident alleged in the complaint herein.