‘Sometimes my leg collapses.’ Elderly tenant forced to climb up steps due to elevator outage in Highbridge
Flo Smith now does all the errands for her household, since her husband is homebound with the elevator outage.
It's been two weeks without elevator service at a Highbridge apartment building, leaving some residents to climb up to six flights of stairs.
It's a challenge, especially for the elderly and disabled.
Flo Smith, 84, says she has to carefully climb the stairs to her fourth-floor apartment, gripping her cane tightly as she goes up.
“Sometimes my leg collapses,” Smith said.
She’s been making this climb every day for the past two weeks.
“I have to turn sideways so this leg doesn't bend,” she explained.
Smith now does all the errands for her household, since her husband is homebound with the elevator outage.
“I'm the only one who can do stuff in my house now, because my husband, he is in a walker. He used to go to the store to get the food," he says.
Residents like Jennifer Salmon said it’s exhausting going up the steps, especially with laundry and groceries.
“It's hard,” Salmon said. “There is a service elevator, but we are not able to use it.”
While speaking to residents, the building superintendent approached News 12 crews with a person named Edward on the phone from the Chestnut Holdings management office.
News 12 asked Edward how he expects elderly and disabled tenants to cope.
“I'm not going to speak to you,” Edward said. “You said you aren't my tenant. I don't have to speak no more to you.”
Edward offered no solutions to the ongoing elevator outage, leaving tenants to continue climbing the stairs.
“We are hoping,” Salmon said. “There was a sign there that says they were repairing something, and we haven't seen or heard anything since then.”
Residents say they're not asking for luxury, just a working elevator.
