NOT STELLA: I was trapped in an elevator in downtown New Rochelle; No one called 911

Written By: Robert Cox

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (December 17, 2022) — I left my apartment on the 10th floor of The Stella abruptly this afternoon to go downstairs to help my daughter with her luggage on a day she came for a holiday visit. I was expecting a quick trip down and up so did not take my phone. That proved to be highly unfortunate.

I got a trolley cart in the lobby and rolled it out to her car. I loaded up the trolley cart. I said I would see her upstairs after she parked her car. I would not see until about an hour later.

What follows below is the incident report I filed with the New Rochelle Fire Department and New Rochelle Buildings Department, and copied to the building management and city officials.

This incident was frustrating and worrisome and scary for me personally. I could not get help; even the supposed emergency response of the elevator company refused repeated requests to call the fire department which excels at rescuing people from elevators. No one at the building picked up the phone when they called so they left a voicemail.

It was utter incompetence at every turn.

What is far more worrisome is that the City of New Rochelle is entrusting the operation of one high rise building after another to building owners who do not appear even remotely concerned with the health and safety of tenants and their guests, or even their own staff.

At the Stella, there is not a single security person working at the building, anyone can wander into the building day or night, one day its acrid, toxic smoke wafting 28 floor through the entire building to another bumping into a SWAT team in full gear with high-powered rifles on the elevator when taking the dog for a morning walk. It is not a question of if someone is going to die in one of these new “wild west” apartment buildings — that already happened at The Printhouse — but how many will die.

Here are a few examples, after which follows my incident report and a series of tweets.

Electrical Fire at High-Rise in Downtown New Rochelle Sparked by Transformer Explosion in Basement; Heavy Smoke, No Injuries

PrintHouse of Horrors: Part I – New Rochelle Residents Trapped by Slumlord

Man Jumps 7 Stories Off Balcony in Downtown New Rochelle

Man Fell or Jumped 7 Stories After He Intentionally Hung Off Edge of Building, Say New Rochelle Police

SWAT Team Deployed to Stella Apartments in Downtown New Rochelle

RXR sues construction manager, alleging shoddy work in New Rochelle

Multiple Arrests, FBI and New York State Police Swarm New Rochelle’s Huguenot 360

Incident Report: The Stella 12/17

From: Robert Cox

Sent: Saturday, December 17, 2022 3:09:31 PM

To: Vacca, Paul; Sandor, Andrew

Cc: Lori Roseman/Wilder Balther, Salgado, Adam, Gill, Kathleen, Strome, Chuck; Tarantino, Albert; Hyden, Ivar; Marc Jerome

Subject: Elevator Failure at the Stella 10 LeCount

Over the past hour the elevator at the Stella was stuck with me in it. I did not have my phone so can only guess it was maybe 30 minutes. Not sure but it was upsetting all around.

I had a trolly cart with me.

The elevator lurched up a few inches from the 1st floor and then stuck. I was rocked a bit as the car went up and down.

There was a slight mechanical smell in the elevator which was deeply concerning.

I pushed the alarm bell repeatedly but there was no response.

I pushed the emergency call button and reached a woman at Otis Emergency Response who told me to push and hold the open door button for 10 seconds. I tried it a few times to no avail. She told me to push and hold the star button for 10 seconds. I tried it a few times to no avail.

The woman said she would call the building and ended the call.

No one came so after a while I called Otis back. A different woman picked up and told me her colleague called the building but no one picked up so she left a voicemail (and tried to call me back but the phone in the elevator was busy).

I told her that leaving a voicemail was not good enough. I asked her to call the fire department. She refused. She said one of their repair people was 20 minutes away. I told her that was not good enough and asked again for her to call the fire department. She refused.

At that point I told her I would destroy the elevator until someone came and began to repeatedly bang on the elevator with the trolly. She told me that would not help. I think she meant get their tech on scene sooner. I told her it would help me — and it did. I kept banging and after what was about 30 minutes from the start of the incident someone from the Stella came — to demand I stop banging. I said I would not stop banging until the elevator door was open.

The Assistant Superintendent came and pried the doors open. The elevator was not level with the first floor. I pointed that out and said “the fire department would tell me not to exit the elevator until it was level to the floor”. He said I could wait inside until the Otis tech fixed it. Not knowing when that might be I shoved the trolly off the elevator then the items that were on the cart and finally moved as quickly as I could off the elevator.

At that point a woman from the Stella pulled the cart way then complained that cart was damaged and tried to take it away from me. I took it back saying I need it to move all the items on the floor up to my apartment. I did so and returned the cart.

I think it is fair to say that whatever the emergency response is supposed to be for a person stuck in an elevator the system at the Stella did not work in an actual emergency.

I would like whatever appropriate NRFD or Buildings investigation is supposed to occur to take place as soon as possible before there is a repeat of today’s incident for me or anyone else.

I might add that Otis had the old address (14 LeCount) in their system which suggests the possibility that other information like emergency contact info at the Stella may be out of date in other ways.

Thank you.

Robert Cox