ELEVATORS

New Yorkers ride elevators, many times a day, at work, at home, at stores, at concert halls, at subway stations, and many other places, making them a daily part of our urban commute.  After last December's elevator tragedy we, or I should say, I have not necessarily taken elevator safety for granted.  As many of you know, Toni Reiffe and I hosted a BCP Legal Forum earlier this year on elevator safety which included NY OEM and the General Counsel of Otis Elevators.

In doing my due dilligence, I reviewed the elevator inspection certificate in my building at 220 Madison Avenue and found that it is declared safe up and to a total weight of 2006 pounds.  I checked both elevators and the both read the same - 2006 pounds.  It is not a sloppy "0" but clearly a "6"  after the "200" 

Now the mystery begins as to how they arrived at that number.  This reminds me on an old Calvin and Hobbs cartoon strip where Calvin asks his dad how do they know that the weight limit on a bridge is 20,000 pounds.  The dad replies "They keep driving heavier loads across the bridge until it falls down.  Then they know what the weight limit is for that bridge."  The mother looks to the dad and says "If you don't know the answer just say so." I wonder if there is just a speck of truth in dad's reply to Calvin about how they determine the evevator capacity at 220 Madison Avenue

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