Landlord Can Substitute Concierge for Elevator Operators

Landlord asked the DHCR for permission to modify building-wide services by substituting a lobby concierge for the existing manned elevator service. The DRA ruled for landlord. Tenant appealed and lost. Tenant claimed that the reassignment of the elevator operators as lobby concierges undermined building security, that the lobby was unguarded when the elevator operators sorted mail, and that tenants felt less safe. But the DRA had properly granted landlord's application subject to conditions that assured an adequate substitution of service. The former elevator operators would be stationed as attendants in the lobby at a new custom-built desk with video monitors; the attendants would announce all deliveries and visitors and not permit unauthorized visitors past the desk; a second camera would be installed to record the public areas of the building including the building entrance and exits, the elevator, and basement 24/7; and the attendants' station would be equipped with a buzzer to automatically unlock the vestibule door for incoming tenants. And there would be no reduction in staff since the 24-hour elevator operators would not become doormen stationed in the lobby.

115 West 86th Street: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. UG430064RT (2/19/10) [3-pg. doc.]