Elevator Repair/Maintenance Company Needed for Small Building
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Vaccine to protect us from our so called “leaders” not so much….
restorationcontractor
in General Discussion 5 years and 2 months ago
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27 replies
ejalbk | 5 years and 3 months ago
Six months ago I posted a similar thread and got a recommendation that didn’t pan out. So here I am in hopes of getting another name or two. I manage a small building with one older elevator and we’ve been using the same company for service and mandated inspections the entire time. Not only have their prices gone up way faster than inflation over the past decade, but the quality of interacting with them has suffered after the operation was sold by the original owner. We’re looking for an elevator service company but we fear our single small old elevator will not fit into the profile of most of the industry giants. Are there any reliable reasonable smaller companies still left in NYC? Thanks for your recs.
lkrshacmzcy | 5 years and 3 months ago
Can I ask the reason for wanting to go with a smaller company over a larger one?
lkrshacmzcy | 5 years and 3 months ago
Can I ask the reason for wanting to go with a smaller company over a larger one?
ejalbk | 5 years and 3 months ago
I prefer being able to reach responsible parties on the phone, but a well-run larger company should be able to provide for this so I should probably retract the preference for a smaller company.
stevecym | 5 years and 3 months ago
we used armor konig (might be montgomery konig now) in the 90’s and they were responsive and they are bigger.
there have been a few people killed in elevator accidents in nyc over the past ten years and that is probably driving up the cost of insurance. only a guess.
these businesses have expenses they cannot get away from, the same union contract that provides a progressive benefits package to its members and insurance.
stevecym | 5 years and 3 months ago
take a look at the nyc blue book and see if you can find some service companies there. most of the readers on here are single or two family homeowners, so they may not be able to offer help. also, the elevator service supply comapny (parts) was located somewhere by yankee stadium (i know this because my guy with barrist elevator used to run there for parts). call them and see if you can get some names.
resident2 | 5 years and 3 months ago
Due to the extremely high rate of the Liability Insurance for Elevator Companies, many have gone out of business and most of those that are left in NYC are, if you dig deep you will find are owned by the same few groups.
Residential Management companies fall into two categories: those that do manage elevator buildings & those that do not for a reason.
And now with the added challenge of owners making capital improvements without getting any increase on income to cover it, elevators are going to get really tough to keep running smoothly.
So to answer your question an older elevator will be too much trouble for an elevator company looking at their Liability to maintain it.
Your best bet is to start beating your head against a brick wall by asking HPD for help to replace it. It will be interesting to see what they have to offer that is not going to Bankrupt your building.
stevecym | 5 years and 3 months ago
@resident2: to your point, i worked in a building that had a wwi era elevator in it with the original controller. one hot july day, it decided to catch fire taking the control room roof with it and resulting in a lot of water damage.. the insurance paid out and immediately contacted us for the elevator maintenance contracts and i asked my boss why and he told me “they are going after them to cover some of the expense for the damages”. this is how dangerous and costly this stuff is to keep operating and in our case, the senior management had not wanted to spend the money to replace the controller (and no lesson learned; they got one for free in the end). they were lucky no one had become trapped and hurt.
ejalbk | 5 years and 3 months ago
I’m sure the Rent Guidelines Board takes the elevator situation into consideration when they decide on another year with no rent increases, true?
stevecym | 5 years and 3 months ago
@ejalbk: just like the governor or mayor or whomever influences the rent guidelines board will serve the jail time if someone gets killed because a landlord could not afford an elevator service and decided to do a repair himself.
resident2 | 5 years and 3 months ago
ejalbk : No the rent guidelines board does NOT take into account that most “older” buildings, that get the same rent increases as new 421A or J51 (NEW Buildings or Rehabbed Buildings) Rent Stabilized increases have elevators and other structural & mechanical systems that are upwards of 70/80 years old in many cases.
It used to be that Landlords could put in a new elevator & get a Major Capital Improvement increase spread over all the tenants with minimal /maximum amounts on some tenants, older tenants got Senior Citizen Rent Increase exemptions, but the Landlords could get the increase added when there was a vacancy. Based on that the Landlord could see a way of financing the expenditure. That has changed. Landlords can no longer get an increase for putting money into the building!
The whole system is screwed because it does not help good tenants or good Landlords. But Politicians look like they are doing something.
IronBalls | 5 years and 3 months ago
Yeah, NYC landlord here. Now that there’s no way to recoup captial investments, or to renovate and legally charge more, the name of the landlord game in NYC is doing everything as cheaply as you can. It’s the only way to squeeze out a profit. I’m worried that NYC is going to totally collapse. The human outflow right now from the city is bound to put massive negative pressure on real estate prices and rents. We may be looking at some very bad times. Sorry, no advice on elevator repairs.
stevecym | 5 years and 3 months ago
@ resident2 & iron balls, as a matter of discussion and curiosity, what would happen if an owner of a rent controlled building could no longer get a service contract and could not afford to repair the antiquated equipment and just shit the elevators down? suppose the money was really not there?
ejalbk | 5 years and 3 months ago
Back in the 1960s when the situation was about as bleak as it is now, small landlords used to organize protest marches in the City Hall area that were well attended by fellow landlords that were in dire financial shape. That needs to happen again. Any de Blasio statues that can be torn down?
IronBalls | 5 years and 3 months ago
@ stevecym, individual apartments may be rent controlled, but few buildings are all rent controlled, though many are all rent stabilized. It depends on the unit history. If the owner didn’t repair a broken elevator for whatever reason, tenants would call 311 and the DOB would give the building violations. If the landlord still refused to repair, the DOB might fix the elevator, but would do so at a cost much higher than most private owners would pay. The cost would be billed by the DOF on the property owner’s tax bill. If the owner still refused to pay, the DOF would put a lien on the property which could eventually lead to foreclosure. A smart landlord would find someway to bandaid the elevator.
IronBalls | 5 years and 3 months ago
@no-permitz Moving trucks everywhere. Folks are leaving NYC for good. $2m townhouses will be worth half or less this time next year. Very little is actually renting and the stuff that’s renting is down at least 15-20%. You haven’t seen sales prices tank yet, but you will. It’s takes a little time.
resident2 | 5 years and 3 months ago
stevecym: You ask what happens if a landlord shuts down the elevator because they cannot afford to repair/replace it? The first thing that happens is the tenants get a rent reduction for reduction of services. Landlords cannot get increases for supplying better services, but tenants still get rent reductions for reduced services even if it is for safety reasons! If there are enough handicapped tenants that literally cannot get down the stairs the City will hire private contractors to make “Elastoplast” repairs at 3-4 times mark up prices that do not get inspected by the City and charge it to the Landlord …. eventually the City will “foreclose” or third party appropriate the building to take it from the struggling Landlord & turn it over under a very dubious HPD program and assign (give) it to a favored Landlord.
The Brooklyn Borough Presidents office has been fighting against this program because it often hastens up racist gentrification when given to some of the “favored” Landlords in Neighborhoods such as Crown Heights & Bed Sty for example.
Meanwhile the City is one of the worst Landlords in the City and cannot / do not maintain their own buildings that are supposed to house the largest amount of low income tenants even though they get huge Federal & State subsides to do so, pay no RE Taxes and other expenses that private landlords have to pay.
The recent ridiculous restrictions on Private Landlords does absolutely nothing to help good, hardworking low income tenants and discourages investment in low income housing. When I refer to “low income” I am not talking about the over inflated ideas of “low income” in new development buildings that get huge RE Tax abatements, while the real struggling Landlords of the real low income, pay some of the highest rates of RE Taxes in the CITY!
IronBalls | 5 years and 3 months ago
You think the NYC Rent Guidelines Board giving andlords of rent stabilized apartments the third zero percent annual rent increase in the last six years is going to help them afford repairs?
restorationcontractor | 5 years and 2 months ago
RGB sucks, there are real cap rates north of NYC. easy to find turnkey (or close to it) 10% and up. & non elevator buildings.
Unless it’s a property you have owned long term, or in poor shape/vacant with potential upside I don’t see why anyone would bother with the 3,4,5% cap rates I see for sale here.
And no RGB (or looting) for that matter.