QUEENS — The elevators in a 20-story Forest Hills tower have been broken so often that tenants say a 45-minute wait is not unusual — and they're worried about safety.
The building, at 104-60 Queens Blvd., has more than 400 apartments and is part of Parker Towers, a complex consisting of three high-rises which, according to the company’s website, blend “luxury and sophistication.”
Located near the intersection of Queens and Yellowstone boulevards, the complex, which opened in the 1960s, offers a 24-hour doorman and features fountains in front of the buildings.
But tenants said that there is nothing luxurious about waiting for an elevator for 45 minutes or getting stuck between floors, which they say happens a lot.
The building, where residents said rents range from about $1,800 for a studio to $3,200 for a three-bedroom apartment, is ranked No. 7 on the Department of Buildings list of “Top Elevator Offenders.”
Residents said that the two other towers in the complex, which have more amenities and higher rents, had already undergone renovations in the past.
About two years ago, management announced that it was planning to replace all four elevators at 104-60 Queens Blvd. because of frequent malfunctions, residents said. The remodeling also sought to reprogram the elevators so that they would stop at all floors, as opposed to serving either even or odd-numbered floors.
Tenants said they were told it would take up to 13 months to fix each elevator and they'd be repaired one at a time.
But the two elevators that have since been remodeled continue to break on a daily basis, tenants said.
Several weeks ago, they said, the management decided to begin fixing the two remaining elevators at the same time, forcing thousands of residents, including elderly tenants and families with small children, to rely on the two other machines.
Because they keep malfunctioning, they said, there is often only one elevator working in the building.
Tenants said the broken elevators were making the high-rise “a ticking bomb.”
“What if there is an emergency?” said one of the residents who asked that his name not be used because he said he was concerned his rent would be raised.
“What if the EMS comes here, how are they going to get to the top floor? Somebody is going to die because they are not going to get there fast enough."
According to the Department of Buildings, the building currently has more than a dozen open elevator violations ranging from failure to file an annual inspection to general compliance issues, with thousands owed in penalties.
Last year, a violation was also issued to a company working on the elevators in the building for performing maintenance “without a required license or other authorization.”
“Building owners are required to maintain their elevators in a safe and code-compliant manner at all times," said Alexander Schnell, a spokesman for the Department of Buildings. "The failure to do so can result in violations by the department.”
Malip Venkatesh, 74, who has lived in the building for about three years, said he got stuck in the elevator several times and he now prefers to climb 10 flights up than to take the risk again.
“But what about people with luggage or using wheelchairs?” he said. “It’s really tough on them.”
Another tenant, a mother of two toddlers who also didn’t want her name to be used, said that whenever she goes to the basement, where the laundry room is located, it’s nearly impossible to go back up, “because people get on the elevator in the lobby even if it’s going down."
As a result, the elevator comes to the basement already full.
Benjamin Dulchin, executive director of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, said that tenants “have a legal right to working elevators.”
“If the elevators aren’t working, you are not getting your base level of services,” he said.
Parker Towers did not return multiple phone calls seeking comment.
