Stuck in the Elevator at the New World Trade Center - Yesterday

So I was stuck in the elevator for an hour and half at the brand new Westfield World Trade Center Mall.  I had a long workout and thought I would take a walk over to Eataly and get something yummy to eat.  I had a  bad feeling about going.  I was thinking perhaps it was related to the upcoming 9/11 anniversary.  So clearly I didn't listen to my intuition. Never good.

A security guard told me I had to take the elevator (AE22) to the third floor to get to Eataly. The elevator has windows on three sides.   A family with little children got off on the next floor and a couple got in and pressed a button for the second floor.  The doors didn't open on two and didn't open on three.  We pressed the button for all of the floors, the door still wouldn't open.  Then the elevator started to go up and down on constant repeat on it's own. 

I pressed the alarm button. No response.  I pressed the alarm button and held it down.  It took several minutes before a human contacted us.  I told them we were stuck in the elevator the doors were not opening on the floor.  He said to hold on he would contact the mechanic.

And we were still going up and down!  I pressed the alarm button again.  The voice said the mechanic was on his way. From where I wondered?  This was a brand new building, on a very busy Saturday afternoon.  Shouldn't there be many mechanics in every corner?

I asked the voice at the end of box that surely there must be some way they could stop the elevator from going up and down. After a while, we landed on CIM, which seemed to be the main floor.  Finally, the mechanic(s) arrived because we could hear voices on the other side of the door.  In fact they were cursing, because nothing they were doing was working. This did not instill confidence in us.  Clearly, the mechanics were flying by the seat of their pants and didn't know how to rectify the situation.

The couple was from Montreal and very nice.  The man valiantly tried to open the door, but was told to stay away.   We could see security guards and policeman all over.  Suddenly we were the entertainment, and people were taking photos of us, pointing and commenting.

They reboot the computer associated with the elevator, as seen on the screen. And low and behold once again, we go up and down again.  I consider calling the FDNY.  I ask the voice in the box, who informs me they were there.  

It looked like the rescue would be a long time coming, so I sat down and breathe deeply.  It was at this time that the couple started to panic.  We hear continual cursing from the other side of the door. Nothing the mechanics were doing worked.  

Finally an hour and half later the doors open up.  The elevator was about 3 feet off the floor, so we were helped out.  The couple and I hug and they off go.  

It took me a while before my heart rate lowered.  I had chicken soup to calm me down.

This incident is disgraceful on so many levels.  Not only is this a brand new building but it's on a space with a particular history.  Elevators figure strongly in the history.  Didn't someone think to drill all the possible scenarios of elevators breaking down?  

The building should have been alerted the second the doors wouldn't open.  Why did it take me to notify management that there was something wrong?  I did not see FDNY at the scene.

The 9/11 anniversary is approaching.  Don't you think the mechanics and security should be on top of their game, not scrambling around for solutions.

Apparently, this is not the first issue with the elevators.  The elevators were having problems within days of the space opening.  A friend told me she took her children in a stroller and thad to search for an elevator that worked.  

Does the safety of the public take second place to making money?  It certainly seems so.