Two Beren Elevators Face Heavy Leak From Ceiling After Pipe Burst

Two of the three elevators in Beren Campus’ Stanton Hall at 245 Lexington Ave. faced heavy leaks on Tuesday, Nov. 24 after a pipe burst in the building. 

One student, who was sitting in the lobby at the time of the incident, said that around 6 p.m., once the doors to the middle elevator opened, she saw water pouring from the elevator ceiling. As the doors closed, the student called over security. Once the doors opened again, the security guard on duty rushed to push a chair between the elevator doors to prevent it from going back up.  

Soon after, the left elevator also began to leak. The leakage of both elevators continued for around 30 minutes before the consistent leaking slowed to dripping and eventually stopped.

Students at the scene said that the elevators were put back in service soon after the leaking ended, without a formal inspection of the elevators’ state.

According to the security guard who was on duty at the time, a large pipe located on the roof of the building burst as it was not properly sealed. Water began to leak through the building and poured into the elevator. There were no reports of leaks found in any other parts of the building. 

“The leak was related to maintenance on the plumbing systems and unrelated to the elevator,” Chief Facilities and Administrative Officer Randy Apfelbaum shared with The Commentator. “It was resolved quickly and the elevator was dried up and is back in service.” 

Apfelbaum added, “We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

One student, who used the elevator later that day, did not find it working normally. “I got into the elevator after it flooded. There was a garbage pail sitting in the elevator but no more water coming out,” Racheli Gottesman (SCW ‘24) shared with The Commentator. “And the elevator closed on me; the sensor wasn’t working.”

A different student expressed that she was not surprised to find out there was an issue with the elevators. "Listen, when you find a dripping elevator in Stern you just get in and try to avoid the puddles," Rivka Marcus (SCW ‘24) said.

There have been previous elevator issues in Stanton Hall, including one incident where students were stuck in the elevator for two hours and another incident where both students and professors were stuck multiple times in one day. As per Apfelbaum, this most recent incident does not seem to be related to the elevators’ maintenance.

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Photo Caption: Two of Stanton Hall’s three elevators 

Photo Credit: The Commentator