Exclusive: Broken Elevator Strands Cars In Morningside Heights Parking Garage
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Dozens of cars are stuck in an upper Manhattan parking lot because a crucial part on the freight elevator snapped.
Mike Distasio of Morningside Heights does more walking these days and said he misses his shiny red Toyota.
"It's very frustrating," Distasio told CBS2's Dave Carlin on Sunday.
He did not sell it or crash it. It's still his and in mint condition, but it's stuck in a parking garage. He can go in to the Oliantha garage on West 107th Street and Columbus Avenue and see it, retrieve a sweater or get his E-ZPass, but he cannot drive it out.
"My car is trapped upstairs because the elevator broke," Distasio said. "It's taking almost three weeks so far."
He said his car is one about 20 on the second floor. Factoring in the two floors above, he figures there are at least 60 cars stuck in there, Carlin reported.
"I don't talk to people you don't know. I call my boss," a garage employee told Carlin after he was asked about the elevator and trapped cars.
So Carlin called the parking garage employee's boss and heard the following recording:
"Attention customers who park at 107th and Oliantha parking. Unfortunately, the elevator is not going to be ready for the weekend. Please get back to us on Tuesday."
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Carlin got in touch with another man with a car stuck inside, but he did not want to be identified or go on camera. He did, however, complain that he never got an adequate explanation.
Distasio told Carlin the owner explained to him why the broken elevator is taking so long to fix.
"There's a large gear on the top of an elevator that has teeth that the cables run on. The gear, itself, broke," Distasio said. "There's no replacement parts for elevators that old. You have to do a cast and make a piece to replace it."
He said he was told the parking company will reimburse him the cost of a rental car, and other expenses.