[Noisebridge-discuss] Elevtor update from 9/10

[Zach R]

Hey all,

  Just want to give an update for those that might need the elevator to enter NB in the coming days and also to ask for assistance in doing repairs.


I went to NB last night for 5mof and was trapped in the elevator for nearly 20 minutes.  Someone taped over the buzzer on the outside that lets people know you need assistance.  The elevator is really not very functional and it is very dangerous.  Eventually someone ran upstairs to help and I was able to get the elevator to call by holding the inside gate with my hand against the frame /while the elevator moved/.  To say this is dangerous is one heck of an understatement.


The landlord has apparently done next to nothing for this repair.  The gate (street facing) came loose off the track at one point and was extremely hard to put back on.  It needs a simple screw and nut to hold 2 of the metal bars in place.  This has nothing to do with the age of the elevator and is just common repair sense.  It just needs some TLC with a new switch and some basic hardware.


It's sad to see how little work or care has been put into this repair.  The LL just doesn't have any incentive since the sweatshop on the second floor moved out and the new business there doesn't need an elevator.


If my health permits I will try and just fix it myself this week or next week.  I would need assistance with someone who can climb a ladder and help in there, so LMK if someone wants to volunteer for this.  I've looked inside the call box before and I bet the buttons to call it up floors just came loose again (there was gum and a quarter holding them together when I opened it years ago...I also replaced all the stripped screws back then).  Also, if anyone has any info on the repair company that looked at this I'd love to chat with them to see what they found inside the call box (if they opened it).


On the plus side, 5mof was a lot of fun and it was a great night once I finally got up there.  Thanks to everyone who came out and presented.


-Zach



________________________________
From: noisebridge-discuss-bounces at lists.noisebridge.net <noisebridge-discuss-bounces at lists.noisebridge.net> on behalf of Zach R <organicunity at hotmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2017 3:07 PM
To: noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
Subject: Re: [Noisebridge-discuss] elevator broken still


Thank you all for the updates regarding the elevator.  I'm excited to be able to present tonight and access the space for this first time in almost 2 months.


That said, please /please/ stop making comments about the age of the elevator, how "custom" it is, and whatever else that might refer to the "difficulty" the landlord faces in fixing it.


When people comment about the age and custom style of the elevator, how "hard" it is to fix, etc. it implies that those of us with disabilities do not have the same rights as other people, including the right to access community spaces.  This really is very hurtful to read.  It makes us feel unwelcome in the community and unwanted, especially  if it happens to be troublesome to make us accommodations (which in this case isn't even a special accommodation).


Legally, the landlord probably doesn't /have/ to do anything about it.  As usual, being a disabled person in SF means I can travel pretty much nowhere.  This isn't any one person's fault.  But it sucks waiting months to access one of the very few wheelchair accessible community spaces in SF (and let's face it, one of the most awesome places in the world).


I very much appreciate Trent and Jarrod's work around this issue and for taking the time to update the list with the repair progress.  Maybe I'm just too sensitive about access right now since I am confined to a wheelchair.  it's hard to be objective about something like that when you are living it every day.  It would be nice to actually have advocates for people with disabilities though.  I received a few individual comments of support that were greatly appreciated.  It would be nice to have more people on the side of access + support.


Sincerely,

-Zach


P.S. sorry to bring this up during the 10-year celebration.  I felt like this is something that really needed to be said though.  I will be there tonight if anyone wants to have a polite discussion about this issue.
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