Going Up?

"In April, Otis Elevators celebrated the 150th anniversary of the modern elevator. Primitive elevators have existed since the building of the pyramids. However, in early models, it was common for the cord carrying the cab to break and kill people. This year, the company re-enacted Elisha Graves Otis's safety demonstration at P.T. Barnum's 1853 Crystal Palace Exhibition in New York City. Otis rode a platform in an open shaft and had the cables cut, but instead of his falling, safety gears kicked in and held him. Otis installed the first commercial passenger elevator on March 23, 1857, at a New York City department store. By the 1870s there were 2,000 Otis elevators in service.

There are no federal mandates on elevator safety. The U.S. government doesn't require elevators to be inspected, or that elevator inspectors know what they're doing. It's up to individual states."

One of my uncles, James Myers, whom I've never met, died in an elevator accident in NYC's Hall of Records during WWII, where he was assisting my grandfather, Joseph Myers, a real estate reporter. Jim, the "philosopher" had polio as a youth and was confined to a wheelchair. A famous NY lawyer Basil O'Connor represented the case and was awarded $5000, a lot of money for the time. "Basil (Roman Catholic Church) the bishop of Caesarea who defended the Church against the heresies of the 4th century; a saint and Doctor of the Church (329-379)" WordWeb 3.03

Another uncle, Bill Myers, won a major league baseball contract and was celebrating with the advance in the South Street Seaport area, where our family was then, before moving to the Bronx, when an early morning newspaper delivery truck crashed into their parked car and broke both his legs. So much for the baseball career. We came to the Bronx when the Alfred E. Smith Houses were built (NYC's oldest "projects" named for Al Smith, a famous Catholic politician from Peck Slip originally, celebrated at a dinner every year.) The Peck Slip Post Office there was once the universal address for all parking ticket transactions.