Twelve Trapped in Belfer Elevator on First Day of Semester

On Monday January 24th, the first day of the new semester, YC/IBC senior Dov Pickholtz intended to arrive early to class. Sometimes however, plans do not go as expected, and on this day Dov's well-intended attempt at punctuality was stalled. At 2:45PM, Pickholtz, proud that he would be fifteen minutes early to class, entered the center elevator in Belfer Hall along with eleven other students. But then the unthinkable happened. Between the first and second floors of Belfer the elevator came to a sudden halt. The students called security from the elevator phone and were told that a technician was on the way.

Pickholtz explained, "We were all relaxed and cracking jokes. Ten minutes had passed, we buzzed again and they told us that we will be out in 2-5 minutes. A small, elderly lady was not so relaxed and she continued to press the call button every couple of minutes."

As those packed within the enclosure awaited rescue, occupants with cell phones made quick use of them. An administrator who happened to be on the elevator, called the office of Facilities Management to make sure Director Jeff Socol was aware of the situation, and to inquire as to how long it would take for the rescue operation to be completed. One student used his cell phone simply to say hello to his father before casually mentioning that he was calling from a stalled elevator.

Another ten minutes had passed, and surprisingly almost everyone kept their cool. Pickholtz tried to pry the elevator doors open with his bare hands. Much to his surprise the doors easily opened. He peered down and saw the technicians working, and they hollered up to him to immediately shut the doors. While the elderly lady continued to periodically hit the call button, most people were making jokes and even planning an elevator reunion. The brunt of many of these jokes was none other than SSSB/JSS sophomore, Simon Landsberg. Simon was the last to enter the elevator as the doors were about to close. This caused Simon to become the adventure's scapegoat. "People were jokingly calling me the cause because I was the last to enter," said Landsberg. "I laughed at these cracks but I felt guilty afterward because of my past history with elevators." Simon was referring to an elevator stoppage that he endured at the 181st Street train station for an hour and a quarter.

This time Landsberg and the rest of the elevator passengers would have a significantly shorter bonding period. After forty-five minutes, the elevator began moving again and returned to the first floor. The group quickly celebrated and everyone took the stairs to complete the journey that had begun at 2:45.

Security and Facilities Management refused to comment on the incident, but Pickholtz assures us all that "It was no one's fault; just a funny thing that happened."