Editorial

Tracey's Mine Canary
No one would have wished it on him or anyone else, but the plight of Ming Kuang Chen, the Chinese delivery man who suffered an involuntary lost weekend in a stuck elevator at Tracey Towers three weeks ago, might serve as an impetus for change at the troubled development.

The incident highlighted a startling number of deficiencies in the building. In addition to the towers’ frightening elevators, which probably shouldn't have even passed inspection at an amusement park, the flimsy security system at Tracey may even do more harm than if there were not security at all.

By all accounts the dark, grainy closed-circuit TV monitors in the first-floor security office were useless. Even the president of the security company, Copstat, said the monitors didn’t show Chen in the elevator when he finally made himself heard through the intercom.

And, according to one source, the elevator alarms do not even sound in the security office!

R-Y Management, the company that runs Tracey, blames much of what’s wrong at Tracey on tenants who have fought rent increases and therefore deprived them of the money they say is necessary to make improvements. The city shares that position. But in 2004, R-Y received a sizeable increase over a three-year period. Elevator repairs have begun, but less certain is the fate of the security system.

We imagine R-Y, the manager of 34 properties, can afford to invest in cameras and monitors that actually work. And it costs nothing to simply bring each elevator down to the first floor a couple of times a day to make sure that each is in working order and that no one is stuck inside. Better training and pay for security guards must also be considered.

Of course, police who apparently did not methodically check each elevator while searching all 871 apartments, must review their own procedures.

Chen survived his ordeal, thank goodness, and everyone involved claims to be making sure nothing like it ever happens again. But we wonder what would happen today if, God fordbid, someone was attacked or raped in an elevator. Would guards be able to identify a crime in progress if they weren’t able to see Chen in the elevator over an 81-hour period? We doubt it.

Ming Kuang Chen, a quiet, hard-working person, does not deserve the kind of spotlight this incident has shone on him. But if any positive change comes from this, everyone should be grateful to the man who served as a canary in the mine, bringing to light disastrous conditions at Tracey that are sure to claim future victims if not addressed immediately.

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