Broken For 10 Years, Roosevelt Island Motorgate North Elevator About To Be Fixed Says RIOC - Work Commences April 2012 - Staircase Lights Should Be Working By Next Week

Reported earlier this week about a hazardous condition of lights not working at the Motorgate Parking Garage. Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) President Leslie Torres explains what happened:

Earlier this week there was a lighting outage in the staircases at Motorgate, which has been known to happen during bad weather. This time the culprit was water om melting snow. Electricians are working to replace the panel that feeds the staircases and should finish the job next week. In the meantime, we have increased Public Safety patrols at Motorgate. Ultimately, we’re planning to replace all the lights at the facility with LEDs, which should provide a long-term solution.

Responding to the original post, a reader comments:

they will never fix it.. Oh maybe they will the same time they fix the elevator at the far end of the parking garage.. near 40 river road..

Image of Broken North Motorgate Parking Elevator

and another reader asks:

Have they fixed the escalator in Motorgate yet?

Image Of Broken Motorgate Escalator

Well, hold on to your hats because the Motorgate North Elevator is about to get replaced according to a resolution approved at the January 2012 Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Board of Directors meeting (Video web cast here).

As shown in the video below, RIOC Chief Financial Officer Steve Chironis explains that after 7 years of RIOC negotiations with Motorgate Garage partner Roosevelt Island Associates a/k/a Manhattan Park (Manhattan Park owns 39%, RIOC 61%), a tentative agreement has been reached to replace the Motorgate North elevators damaged by water infiltration and out of service for approximately 10 years. Mr. Chironis reports the agreement calls for sharing the approximately $575,000 cost to totally replace the North elevators in the same percentage as ownership with RIOC paying $384,000 and Roosevelt Island Associates $190,000. At Roosevelt Island Associates request/insistence, included in the cost to RIOC will be payment of about $89,000 to correct original defects in Motorgate North Elevator design. According to Mr. Chironis, work will commence in April 2012.

You Tube Video of Motorgate North Elevator Replacement

RIOC Director David Kraut said that over many years Roosevelt Island Associates had demonstrated recalcitrance in maintaining and upkeeping these elevators at their own expense though he still voted to approve the agreement.

Mr. Chironis mentioned that a stumbling block in the negotiation to fix the Motorgate North Elevator has been that Roosevelt Island Associates wanted RIOC to fix the Motorgate escalator. I am not sure what that is about but RIOC has wanted to remove the escalator for a long time.

Mr. Chironis added that Manhattan Park is also replacing the elevators in their building.