Visitors repeatedly trapped in Hollywood building elevator
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This is the building's only elevator. Photos: Courtesy of Warren Cohn
The elevator at Emerald Lake Plaza off Stirling Road is repeatedly breaking down and trapping people inside.
Why this matters: Elderly visitors are having to be carried up the stairs with their walkers and wheelchairs to get to their appointments.
- Tenants at the three-story building include medical, law and other professional offices.
What they're saying: "When it's hot and you're exasperated because you're already handicapped to then have to be carried, you should see their faces. It would say everything," tenant Warren Cohn tells Axios.
- He adds, "Seeing that messes up my day because it hurts me, like it hurts my heart."
Between the lines: Cohn says the building's elevator has not been working properly for the past several months.
- It's either out of order for days, he says, or when it is working, people get stuck inside, needing Hollywood Fire Rescue to get them out.
- "If it happens a couple times, things happen. I understand that, but this is something happening three, maybe four times a week," he tells Axios.
By the numbers: Fire rescue has been called seven times since mid-April to get people out of the elevator, records show.
- The department was most recently called on June 15 and 16.
The other side: FIRM Realty, the property management company, calls the repeated outages "unacceptable" and blames maintenance contractor TK Elevator.
- "The failures of the past several months reflect a breakdown in vendor performance, not deferred maintenance or aging equipment that has been left to fail," Mark Machado, director of operations, tells Axios.
- He says ownership is prepared to "spend whatever is necessary" and is considering replacing the elevator.
Yes, but: A TK Elevator spokesperson tells Axios that the elevator is more than 20 years old and the company provided a modernization proposal in early May.
- "TK Elevator has been in communication with this customer to plan for a full modernization of the system," the spokesperson says.
Editor's note: The headline has been corrected to reflect that Emerald Lake Plaza is in Hollywood (not Fort Lauderdale).