By Jean Brannum | jbrannum@queensledger.com

When Chris Szeles found herself stuck in her apartment elevator in 2016, she pleaded with management over the intercom to call 911. 

However, instead of calling emergency services, the intercom was shut off, leaving Chris helpless and trapped for over an hour. 

“They waited for the elevator company to come for an hour and 20 minutes. I kept begging them, crying to please call 911.”

Hoping to help others caught in the same situation, Szeles decided to call emergency services herself for people stuck in the elevator but was met with backlash from management. 

“Anytime I hear the alarm, if I know someone is stuck, I call 911. Management called me and told me that I’m not allowed to call 911 if someone’s stuck in the elevator.”

Szeles requested that the statement be delivered to her in writing. Her request was denied. She still has anxiety when she uses the elevator. 

“Anytime it slows down, I get major anxiety,” Szelez said. She said there have been three times this month where the elevator has either made a noise, stopped momentarily, or not shut properly, causing her to fear that she may be trapped again. 

Among other tenants, Szeles has struggled with the Hunters Point South elevators. Hunters Point South and Hunters Point South Crossing are part of the same complex and residents say that elevators are a problem in both buildings. 

Residents have complained about hours-long wait times, lines for elevators out the door when only one is working, and being forced to climb many flights of stairs when there is no hope of getting the lift. 

The anger culminated on Aug 2 when tenants rallied outside of the 37-story building to demand management fix the elevators. According to the residents, the elevators have been an issue since 2015 when the building opened but got worse in 2018. 

Complaints to the Department of Buildings about the broken elevators go as far back as January 2016. In 2022, OATH/ECB fined the company $655 for failing to maintain working elevators.

 Frank Llewellyn, a tenant since the building opened in 2015, said that elevators have been an ongoing problem and he has waited up to nine hours for an elevator before deciding to climb the stairs.

City Councilmember Julie Won said that her office issued a summons to the DOB after numerous requests that the management company, Related, fix the elevator permanently. 

“The tenants have been walking up more than 30 flights of stairs every single day for almost a year.”

Won pointed out that a non-functional elevator makes it hard for members of the disability community, parents with strollers, and dog owners to quickly leave the building as they please. Hunters Point South and its sister building are both affordable housing complexes and rent-stabilized. 

James Yu, a tenant on the 34th floor, said that he pays nearly $4000 to live in his unit and that the situation is “unacceptable” at this point. 

Yu explained that a flood in 2018 worsened existing elevator problems. He estimated that 300 tenants were displaced and moved to a nearby hotel. When offered little compensation, he and other displaced tenants banned together to receive a little over one month’s rent. 

A pipe burst on Yu’s floor and water flooded the building for about 4-5 hours, Yu said. The water went into the shafts.

“We have issues with the elevators prior to that, but ever since the flooding, the elevators have been breaking every day.”

Yu estimated that he has about 60 emails from management apologizing for the elevators. He regularly has to choose between waiting for an elevator or climbing 30 flights of stairs. 

Matt Aaron, chair of the tenants association for the building, said that only one of three elevators is working at this time and that management predicts the two other elevators will be out of commission until next week. 

“We are beyond a tipping point and are sick and tired of the band-aid solutions management has implemented that only seem to result in the elevators failing just hours after they are supposedly fixed.”

Aaron emphasized that while broken elevators are inconvenient, they are mainly a safety issue and that it is only a matter of time before someone gets injured. The staff also need to use the elevators as much as the tenants do. 

“We’re trying to tackle this now to greatly improve our lives and to ensure the safety of both residents and the staff. 

The Management company, Related did not respond to a request for comment. 

 

 

By Jean Brannum | jbrannum@queensledger.com

The Ravenswood Generating Station may become a hub for offshore wind power after many members of the community show support at a public meeting.

At the Jacob Riis Settlement Houses on July 24, staff members from Rise Light and Power, the company that owns the station, talked with residents about the economic and natural impact of the wind farm. The wind farm will provide about 20% of power if it works at full capacity. The project is called the Queensboro Renewable Express.

In order to run the energy from the farm to the station, an 18.5-mile pair of cables will need to be installed connecting the two locations.

Running cables of this length on the seabed floor is more than a typical plug-and-play. The cables, which together are 12 inches wide and six inches tall, follow a path that minimizes impact on the ecosystems and protects cables from large ships that frequent New York City waters.

The route starts in federal waters off the coast of Breezy Point in Queens and runs to the northeast coast of Staten Island. Then, the cable straddles the New Jersey state line before running up the East River to Ravenswood. The energy would provide electricity for over two million households. A remote vehicle will bury the cables between two and fifteen feet under the seabed.

This public meeting was part of the Article VII certification process. Article VII is a public service law that mandates a review of new electricity transmission facilities’ environmental impact. The New York Public Service Commission makes the final decision, but members of the community can make comments publicly and in writing.

Seven meeting attendants spoke in favor of the project. Former City Councilmember and CEO of the Variety Boys and Girls Club in Queens, Costas Constantinides, said that he sees the impact of the station on the families he works with who have asthma due to the pollution.

“It is time to break the cycles of pollution, hereditary pollution in our neighborhoods. It’s time to ensure in this just transition that we preserve good jobs and create the opportunity for the neighborhood.”

Many community members also expressed the need for the project to bring jobs to the area. Lenore Friedlaender from Climate Jobs New York, said that many of the current workers for the generating station could be re-trained to work for the green power plant. Friedlaender is also part of the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development and the Assistant to the President of 32BJ SEIU.

The Ravenswood station has already received some major changes and will continue to as the wind farm construction process continues. The large steam generators that have towered over the area since the 60s have been replaced. The 17 gas generators or “peakers” have been made defunct one by one until 2023. A gas generator was installed in 2000 to replace the lost energy generation.

The project also has support from some residents of the NYCHA houses in the area. Vice President of the Ravenswood Houses Residents Association Christina Chaise supports the idea of sustainable communities but hopes the money will go back into NYCHA.

“I wonder how we can use that funding to preserve public housing. As we know, privatization has been an option for NYCHA. It would be a creative resolution if we can find other ways to fund our public housing.”

Chaise talked about how she was unable to get her counter repaired due low stock of sinks in her complex. Like other NYCHA establishments, the area around her apartment has an unsafe lack of lighting. She hopes the revenue from the project can fix these problems.

The project is part of the Renewable Ravenswood project, which aims to turn the energy complex into a green energy center. This project is part of the goal. The projects also aim to decrease pollution. In the area, which includes Jacob Riis Settlement Houses and Queensbridge Houses, about 15% of adults have asthma. It is commonly referred to as “Asthma Alley.”

The Queensboro Renewable Express projects the application for Article VII will be approved in 2025. If approved, then construction will begin between 2026 and 2027, and the plant will generate its first watts of electricity in 2030.