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I frequently have to stay in a building with them and find them frustrating and more invasive than doormen. Just curious why some buildings still have elevator operators instead of just getting a regular elevator? The elevator looks to be mostly like a modern elevator except for a lever they have to pull. For this building in particular they have the same guy acting as doorman AND elevator operator and he's stretched too thin to be good at either job. They're often in pissy, frustrated moods having to go up and down, up and down, deal with impatient tenants, etc. Just seems like a bad deal all around, both for tenants and doormen.
Why do some buildings insist on keeping this setup? Cheap? Nostalgic? It's annoying.
Whats the point of cooking at home when you have many places to eat?
Whats the point of eating out when you can cook at home?
There's a reason for everything and sometimes it just wont match your "logic and reasoning" because you're "illogical & unreasonable". Get what im trying to say
I frequently have to stay in a building with them and find them frustrating and more invasive than doormen. Just curious why some buildings still have elevator operators instead of just getting a regular elevator? The elevator looks to be mostly like a modern elevator except for a lever they have to pull. For this building in particular they have the same guy acting as doorman AND elevator operator and he's stretched too thin to be good at either job. They're often in pissy, frustrated moods having to go up and down, up and down, deal with impatient tenants, etc. Just seems like a bad deal all around, both for tenants and doormen.
Why do some buildings insist on keeping this setup? Cheap? Nostalgic? It's annoying.
They are actually quite expensive to replace. It's likely the building's owner or owners aren't willing to go to the expense of replacing them. Your looking well into six figures as often the whole elevator will need to be replaced as well as the electronics for a fully automated lift to be installed. Depending on the age of the building it may also be that the actual elevator stack will need to be remodelled.
As for the actual operator they actually have to be trained and certified to be able to operate the elevator under NYC rules.
I frequently have to stay in a building with them and find them frustrating and more invasive than doormen. Just curious why some buildings still have elevator operators instead of just getting a regular elevator? The elevator looks to be mostly like a modern elevator except for a lever they have to pull. For this building in particular they have the same guy acting as doorman AND elevator operator and he's stretched too thin to be good at either job. They're often in pissy, frustrated moods having to go up and down, up and down, deal with impatient tenants, etc. Just seems like a bad deal all around, both for tenants and doormen.
Why do some buildings insist on keeping this setup? Cheap? Nostalgic? It's annoying.
If you've seen enough old films (The Apartment with Jack Lemmon for one) you'd know elevator operators were once standard for all such things in commercial and residential buildings. As state of the art technology developed and passenger operated elevators became available that is what went into new buildings and or when there was a major remodel of old.
Passenger operated elevators besides their other benefits of course allowed a reduction in building staffing. Unlike years ago when labor was cheap for both domestic and commercial buildings today in all but the largest places you don't find dedicated elevator operators any longer. Most as you've described also work as doormen, hall boys, porters, etc...
In some buildings both residential and commercial while the older passenger elevators were modernized the freight/service are still older versions requiring an operator. Would have to look it up but am almost certain those old elevators without modern safety door systems and such are required by law to have operators. Those things do not stop at floors automatically but like driving a car you have to do things manually. Over the years scores of persons have died from falling down elevator shafts where the operator failed to close the door securely after leaving a floor. One such case happened at the famous CPW building the Umbria. The elevator operator was charged and convicted of homicide due to such a death.
Finally many residents of old co-op/White Glove buildings prefer elevators operated by staff. Leaving aside the religious issue it is also one of safety. Someone brings persons (especially tradesmen, service, staff, etc...) up and sees where they are going. They then take them back down and make sure they leave the building.
I believe that some buildings containing rent-regulated tenants are reluctant to get rid of elevator operators for fear that tenants will claim that services have been cut. That could potentially allow them to file a lawsuit for a rent reduction. There was one such case in 2009: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/Report...2009_32936.pdf
From the court document: "The tenants' applications for a rent reduction based upon decreased building-wide services were supported by their statements that the building had had 24-hour elevator-operator service since 1970, or earlier, which service was reduced by the Owner to automatic passenger elevator service."
Finally many residents of old co-op/White Glove buildings prefer elevators operated by staff. Leaving aside the religious issue it is also one of safety. Someone brings persons (especially tradesmen, service, staff, etc...) up and sees where they are going. They then take them back down and make sure they leave the building.
This. It's a holdover from the days when having an elevator in your building was a mark of gentility; as opposed to walking up many flights of stairs with your laundry in one arm and a screaming baby in the other like the proles. Residents in those days would no more have pulled the lever for their floor (operating an early elevator was like operating heavy machinery) than they would have done their own laundry or landscaping or hauled their own garbage to the basement.
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