: 1228412484

Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-Kew Gardens) visited the New York City Housing Authority Pomonok Community Center to make a point; NYCHA should shore up elevator safety in its public housing.

Martha Levine, 90, said she has lived in the Pomonok Housing for 40 years and throughout the years the development has become dilapidated. Levine, who needs the assistance of a walker to get around said she lives on the seventh floor.

“The elevators have always been a problem,” she said.

Years ago maintenance was onsite so if any problems arose it would be fixed quickly, Levine said, that isn’t the case anymore.

“The government must keep the developments in good standing,” she said. “There are people who have needs.”

Weiner said NYCHA does not make the repairs necessary to upkeep the elevators.

“It’s like someone is pedaling in the basement to make it go up,” he said of the elevator in the community center. “The same things are failing on the elevators.”

To assist in additional repairs of elevators and other structural facilities, Weiner said he finagled $1 billion for infusion in the federal stimulus package, which if it passes the senate NYCHA will receive $130 million in additional funding. The stimulus bill passed congress 264-158.

Ian Maghie, 77, said he has lived in his buildings since 1987 and lives on the fifth floor. He said that he was stuck in the elevator for 45 minutes and after having triple bypass surgery he walked up five flights to his apartment.

Howard Marder, spokesman for NYCHA said Pomonok is one of the largest housing developments of the cities 2,636 facilities. He said in 2001 the NYCHA spent $5.78 million in renovations for the 54 elevators in the 35 buildings.

According to Marder, there is one maintenance team dedicated to just Pomonok. He said the elevator outages were reduced by 18.6 percent within the last year. Pomonok’s outages account for 10 percent of the citywide elevator issues.

Christina Edmunds, office manager for Queens Community House, which manages the Pomonok Community Center, said she has worked at the facility for two years.

“The elevators have always been a problem,” she said. “Even before I started working here.”

She said maintenance has adjusted the speed of the elevators, but other problems still persist. She said the main issues are the doors not closing all the way and the elevator not being leveled to the floor.

Another issue with the elevator in the community center is whether or not it received a satisfactory or unsatisfactory rating. One of Weiner’s assistants contends that the elevator was inspected last June and there is no sticker, espousing a satisfactory claim.

Marder said the elevators are inspected twice a year, but he wasn’t sure of the elevator’s rating.

“We are very responsible landlords,” Marder said.