My rights when the elevator is out of service?

There's only one elevator in your "luxury" rental building?

There is only one that reaches my floor. A second elevator goes to the fourth floor, and I have to walk the remaining flights up to my apartment.

We have two small elevators and one service elevator in my rental building. When one of the regular elevators is out of service for maintenance, the tenants use the service elevator in addition to the other regular elevator. Does your building have a service elevator?

What you are experiencing is considered a "reduction of services" and a portion of your rent should be refunded as a result. Look at nyc.gov and search the reduction of services term and see what you can learn to advocate for yourself with your landlord. GL!

You didn't suggest you were going to take any precipitous action, but fwiw, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES withhold rent without getting competent legal counsel first. Whether you feel justified is irrelevant and may end up costing you an arm and a leg if you start deducting some amount from your rent. You need a lawyer to help you understand what the ramifications and "rules" of this game are.

" I have had to climb five flights of stairs every time I want to leave my apartment."

Huh?

Do you live in the sub-sub-sub-sub basement??

Oops, I should have said "I have had to climb five flights of stairs every time I want to ENTER my apartment." Thanks for the catch, NYCMatt.

Thanks, kw, for the advice on not witholding rent. I won't do that until I get a better sense of what rights (if any) I have. Thanks also to nycer for pointing me to the NYC.gov website. I'll definitely check that out, and probably call 311 to see if they can be of any help. Before I go too worked up about this, I was trying to figure out if the answer is "Tough luck, they have no obligation to provide an elevator" or if this constitutes a reduction in service. So far, it seems that the answer is "maybe."

You have the right to use the stairs!

Signed,

Your Landlord

People pay $150 dollars a month to use a stairmaster. They should bill it as a free gym membership.

Your "rights"?

I once lived in a "luxury" rental in Manhattan. A/C was out for two of the most disgustingly hot and humid weeks in the summer. Tenants organized and contacted the local government rep. to get some action. I changed my routine. Spent lots of time at the air conditioned movies and in grocery stores. Same building: water pouring through our ceiling in the middle of the living room because the workers were working on the roof. Their solution: "we'll put a bucket under the leak to catch the water for the two more months of work." My response: "I thought this was a luxury building. I feel like I live in a tenement." Their reaction: solve the problem immediately on the roof side. Apparently the word "tenement" got their attention. I am not a lawyer, I just spoke from the heart, but after that I always had the impression that the word "tenement" held some special meaning in NY landlord-tenant relations.

My final reaction: BUY, don't rent, just to avoid this crap and have some say in what goes on in your building. So, for all those people on this site who always ask about the rent vs. buy decision: there are some things money CAN buy, and who cares if the market is a little overpriced.

So, CLBbkny, maybe you should wear your gym clothes while you do the five flights, walk to work, shower at the office, cancel your gym membership and with the money you save, buy a place. You see, blessing in disguise. ;-)

my air conditioning unit went out in my condo, had to stay in a hotel as it was a heat wave and couldn't get it repaired for a week.

also, for many people it's not a choice. they can't afford to buy. loosers like that don't deserve basic services, i guess.

"my air conditioning unit went out in my condo, had to stay in a hotel as it was a heat wave and couldn't get it repaired for a week."

Damn, we've become a nation of pussies.

ar, On the contrary, everyone deserves basic services. Unfortunately, we don't live in France, for example, where the balance of rights lies with the tenants. Next, many people on this board can afford to buy, but are holding out for a bottom price. I just say that there are other, non-financial, reasons for buying, and the OP has just indicated one. BYW, I never used the word, nor implied, "loser." Unless OP is elderly or infirm, five flights of stairs is not really a hardship -- an annoyance, yes, but not a hardship. I also gave him/her two other approaches to getting some action. So, not sure why ar reacted so strongly.

matt, my daughter was throwing up from the heat. we had completely unobstructed southern exposures for the entire apartment, and it was close to 100 out.

SEJunkie, "looser" is a reference to another post. but you have no idea what condition the OP is in, whether or not he/she has bad knees, or could afford to buy. i can afford to buy and choose not to, that doesn't mean i should have to climb over 10 flights of stairs, regardless of my condition. and you don't have to live in Europe to get basic services. believe it or not, we're entitled to them right here in NYC.

"matt, my daughter was throwing up from the heat. we had completely unobstructed southern exposures for the entire apartment, and it was close to 100 out."

No one "throws up" from just the heat. She was either sick from something else, or probably drinking too many cold beverages at once.

Like it's never been close to 100 in the entire history of New York City, pre-air conditioning.

matt, you are quite simply wrong. stunningly ignorant, and willing to opine on something about which you know nothing.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/health/heatsickness.html
Seniors, young children, the handicapped, and people who have heart, lung or kidney conditions are the most susceptible to heat illness.

Heat exhaustion is a relatively mild form of heat illness. It often occurs when physical exhaustion – from exercise, for example – combines with extreme heat and dehydration. A person suffering from heat exhaustion may be pale, dizzy, nauseated, sweating profusely and cool to the touch. In more severe cases, vomiting and fainting can occur.

AND:

http://nysc.eas.cornell.edu/climate_of_ny.html
Temperatures of 90° or higher occur from late May to mid-September in all but the normally cooler portions of the state. The New York City area and most of the Hudson Valley record an average of from 18 to 25 days with such temperatures during the warm season

ar, glad you straightened NYCMatt out. Now, back to the OP. When you moved to a hotel, did you ask the landlord to pay the hotel bill?

So she was overexerting herself.

A healthy person -- even a YOUNG healthy person -- does not get "heat exhaustion" simply by being in a warm room without air conditioning.

If that were the case, the human race would have died out before it had the chance to invent air conditioning.

no, heat exhaustion can occur from overexertion. but in some people it can occur just from heat, particularly children, something you know zero about.

SEJunkie, i owned the apartment. so i paid the hotel bill and the repairs for the air conditioning unit, which was significant.

"no, heat exhaustion can occur from overexertion. but in some people it can occur just from heat, particularly children, something you know zero about."

Actually, I know quite a bit about children.

Particularly when they're acting like little drama queens.

you're a toad. i'm quite sure my four year old was vomitting for fun.

a toad? LOL. I was going to use the phrase "arrogantly ignorant," but toad is much funnier.

"you're a toad. i'm quite sure my four year old was vomitting for fun."

Name calling. Nice.

So was heat the official diagnosis of your daughter's sickness? Or did you just make an assumption?

your drama queen reference? name calling, much?

don't waste my time. first you say it's not possible. then it's likely fake, then that i wouldn't have been able to tell whether or not my daughter is vomitting because she was hot. any other avenues of dispute you'd like to explore in your desperate efforts to prove yourself correct?

Look, we all know what's going on here. Mom was uncomfortable, and she used her daughter as an excuse to avoid perspiration.

I think we can all move on now.

oooo, matt thinks he made a witty!! well, asshole, you're 100% wrong. making fun of a situation involving a sick child. nice.

OP here, trying to rescue this chain from complete ruin.

I am sympathetic to those who have said -- in essence -- suck it up and deal. I recognize that may be my only option. I was just curious to see if others had experienced similar situations and tried other approaches that worked. Thanks to all for your input.

How is this luxury rental, with only one elevator? And if its rental you should move. Vacant units send the strongest measures. If its rent stabalized then contact the appropriate city agency

CLB, what does your lease say? i don't know, personally, the obligations the landlord has in your situation. talk to an attorney.

CLBbkny - first you should understand that an elevator is a machine with many moving parts - they ALL break down at some point. Just as the boiler use to go out in my parents house during the winter, elevators go down too.

My first suggestion is patience. My next suggestion is a discussion with your doorman (start low) about when it will be fixed. It could be 2 days it could be 5 months. If no satisfactory answer is given then call the management company - when you call be AS NICE AS POSSIBLE. Be reasonable with them. Trust me, just like my parents didn't want a boiler going down in the winter your landlord doesn't want the elevator going down. He's got to pay to get it fixed, get bids, find parts etc etc - the last thing he needs is for a bunch of dicks to call and complain.
If, ultimately, the elevator is down for a decent amount of time, then the landlord realizes he's going to have to make concessions to tenants. These concessions will be made on a case by case basis. Those who are dicks will get the least as the landlord won't care if those tenants move out at the end of their lease. The nice guys will be desired tenants and the landlord will give them a bigger rent abatement as he will want to keep the good reasonable tenants.
Whatever you don't, don't mention "the law says" or "my lawyer" - it automatically puts you in the dick category. - Just be reasonable - life just works out better when you act that way.

NYC Matt #1, you're the best!

have to agree nyc matt was pretty funny here(and spot on)

I was thinking, is this in StuyTown or Peter Cooper Village? There might be a way for aboutready to get some treble money damages out of this situation, especially if the elevator ISN'T in her building and she HASN'T been affected.

aboutready
about 5 hours ago
ignore this person
report abuse oooo, matt thinks he made a witty!! well, asshole, you're 100% wrong. making fun of a situation involving a sick child. nice.

Weren't you just a week or so ago making fun of a 6 year old because of his name?

hf-scumm, in exactly what way do you think Matt was "spot on"?

Nice try alanhart.

Question for you, does it grate you to be both on the wrong side of issues AND have less balls than aboutready?

Interesting hypothetical, Riversider. Can I get back to you when either situation happens?

Good one.

Why dont you all SELL out and buy a cottage in the Hamptons