Is This Sign Really Necessary?

13 Comments

1. Growing up in a NYC apartment building back in the 70’s we got into all sorts of mischief. This was back in the day when kids rode on the back bumper of city busses and even the outside the back car of moving subway trains. I personally never rode on the outside of an elevator, but as a kid my friends and I love to go to the top floor of the building and drop things down the shaft including fire crackers (not sure what our reasoning was) Anyway, I eventually turned into a responsible adult ! 🙂

2. I remember these signs growing up in NYC housing authority buildings.

3. Same way people ride on the outside of the trains!

4. Elevator surfing was an activity that filled some college evenings when cash was scarce. Since you asked about how…
   The largest challenge is getting into the elevator shaft. This can be accomplished through the obvious methods of breaking into an access room or by using an elevator key to open the doors. We were fortunate enough to find such a key. Once inside you need to get on top of the elevator. The easiest way to do this is to climb up supporting steel structure to the 2nd floor and wait for the elevator to come down to floor 1. Then just hop on quietly so you don’t get caught. Other methods are more harrowing. things to watch out for are the counter weight and the obvious things like sticking body parts out while the elevator rises or falls. Since most elevators have controls on top, you can raise or lower them, stop them or otherwise overrule the floor selections of the passengers. Stalling elevators and then sliding down the supporting cables is fun, but can generate enough heat to burn your hands or other parts that you might foolishly wrap around the cable. Depending on the occupants state of intoxication, overruling their desired floor selections and/or stalling the elevator can be quite entertaining.

5. Elevator Antics, you forgot to add “allegedly.”

   🙂

6. Makes me think of the film “Five Corners.”

7. Sadly, I can recall several incidences of teenagers dying while “surfing” elevators in NYc over the last 30 years.

8. I said the same thing about cow tipping when I first heard about it!

9. When I was young, I used to climb up and out to the end of the swing arm of construction tower cranes, and drink beer. This elevator thing sounds a bit dangerous, though.

10. Just yesterday: http://gothamist.com/2013/05/04/brooklyn_worker_dies_trying_to_craw.php

11. I believe I have seen this sign in parking lots. It is written to address the parking valet/lot attendants operating the automobile elevator. They are supposed to put the automobile (car) in the elevator (car), push the up/down button, and then take the stairs to the cars’ destination, and then unload the car from the car. It is tempting, however, to just hop onboard the car with the car and ride with it. This is perhaps dangerous…thus the sign.

12. Unfortunately, riding outside of the car is a frequent (and frequently lethal) pastime, especially in NYCHA buildings.

13. I have riden on the top of an elevator. The company I worked for was moving into new offices in Hutchinson, Ks. We had a long table that would not go around the corners of the stairwell and was too large to fit inside the elevator car. We dropped the car down half a floor, opened the doors and rode up 7 floors on top of the car. My employer has desighed the building. You would think he would have planned ahead better.

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