BY JACKSON CHEN | In a series of improvements with significant daily impact on residents of high-rise towers, the New York City Housing Authority is in the process of modernizing the elevators at the Isaacs Houses and Holmes Towers on First Avenue between East 92nd and 95th Streets.
The work on the two complexes is part of NYCHA’s bigger push to upgrade the essential elevators its residents rely on citywide. So far, the agency has upgraded 632 elevators at 32 different sites, spending $315 million since 2010.
The new elevators at the Isaacs Houses, which consist of three 24-story towers, cost NYCHA $2.7 million, while the renovation at the Holmes Towers, two 25-story buildings, came to $1.8 million, according to the agency’s deputy press secretary, Zodet Negron.
With more than 300 properties serving thousands of residents, NYCHA’s more than 3,000 elevators can see up to 3.2 million trips per day, or roughly 1.2 billion trips a year, according to agency numbers. With so much use, NYCHA elevators sustain a greater than usual amount of wear-and-tear, according to Ford Weiner, a NYCHA elevator administrator.
To preempt problems that would result from serious elevator breakdowns, NYCHA is proactively modernizing the elevators in Isaacs and Holmes before they reach severe levels of outages. Given the height of the towers, Negron said, the agency obviously has to keep one of each building’s two elevators operating while replacing the other.
According to Weiner, the 1830 First Avenue building of Isaacs Houses had its A elevator out for 28 weeks — a marked increase over NYCHA’s standard 20-week overhaul schedule — before it was usable again on September 12. A couple of weeks later, crews began work on the B elevator, taking it out of service on September 28. Weiner explained that with receipt of a Department of Buildings certificate of operation expected later this week, the elevator will be ready for residents to use.
The new elevators feature a stainless steel cab that is resistant to graffiti, rust, and water. For tenants’ safety, the cabs are equipped with new LED lighting and security cameras. According to Chris Pedersen, the contract inspector for the elevator modernization program at Isaacs and Holmes, the new elevators’ control systems also represent an advance from earlier models.
Pedersen explained that the motor room at the top of the elevators is much quieter, better lit, and equipped with modern control systems that monitor the elevator cars and easily identify if and when a problem occurs. The key joints in the motors that operate the elevators are not exposed to oil and grease buildup, as used to be the case. Pedersen added that the motors are also equipped with three sets of brakes for safety redundancy.
“Maintenance will be greatly reduced, and the chances of [the elevator] shutting down is going to be greatly reduced,” Pedersen said. “But then if there is something that’s wrong with it, they can assess what it is that much quicker and be able to get it back to service.”
With the Isaacs Houses’ second set of elevators opening this week, Weiner said he expects the neighboring Holmes Towers’ elevators to be completed by the end of March. Looking forward, he said, the new equipment should easily last 30 to 50 years with regular monthly service inspections.
For residents, no matter what floor they’re on, the elevators are a crucial part of living in NYCHA properties. Prettina Murray, a 15-year resident of Holmes Tower who lives on the third floor, said she and her fellow residents were very enthusiastic about the upgrades. Murray helps out the contractors as a volunteer elevator monitor, reporting any problems she notices to Pederson.
Asked about her experience with the old elevators, Murray said it “wasn’t too good.”
“It was time for an upgrade, definitely,” she added, pointing to her building’s large number of senior and wheelchair-bound residents.
