Elevating Electchester

A VT team and an iconic Queens, New York, community come together on major elevator modernization.

The 2018 off-Broadway play “Alternating Currents” explored the “solid foundation and goodwill” of the 103-acre Electchester, New York, housing community, which provides affordable housing to more than 6,000 residents. Established in 1949 by Civil Rights and Union champion Harry Van Arsdale Jr., the community’s name, observes Urban Omnibus, tells a story: its second half — chester — “carries so much Anglo-American stateliness and lends an air of gentility to what might otherwise evoke a rugged world of wire strippers and cable cutters inhabited by NYC electricians.”

Indeed, when your author was assigned this story, she envisioned a stately structure in the U.K., based upon the name. A little research revealed the deeper, and more interesting, story, of which the play is a more recent part.

Described by its producer as “a love letter to Electchester,” the play centers on actors portraying a young, interracial couple — both electricians — navigating the challenges and rewards of their new home in South Flushing, Queens. Van Arsdale and other community members — past and present — are also portrayed. Electchester was built in 1949 (ironically on the former site of an upscale, anti-union golf club) by and for the International Union of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3. It was, “in short, an estate meant for those workers without whom the city would be, quite literally, in the dark.”

Electchester is a tight-knit community with a reputation for residents helping residents. It originally included 38 mid-rise, red brick buildings but others — including two high rises — were added later. Today, resident makeup is about 50% IBEW Local 3 union members and 50% others, including members of the International Union of Elevator Constructors. All residents can enjoy a 48-lane bowling alley, a popular summer street fair and an enduring sense of community such as when they pulled together to clean up after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

So it probably came as no surprise to East Hanover, New Jersey-based vertical-transportation (VT) consultancy VDA, Queens-based Morgan Elevator and equipment supplier Vantage Elevator Solutions, headquartered in the Bronx, that a large-scale, year-and-a-half-long elevator replacement project went off without a hitch while the residences were fully occupied. The job, says Morgan Elevator Modernization Supervisor Doug Considine, “would not have been possible without the cooperation and participation of the Electchester managers — including Tommy Prezioso, Anthony Caiozzo and Joe Capasso — who provided the contractors with every resource necessary to complete the project,” which involved 54 of 58 elevators in 54 buildings. Each building, VDA Senior Associate Tim Melanson points out, is served by a single elevator, which makes their being operational all the more crucial.

The first VT player to get involved was VDA, which designed the modernization package then put the project out to bid, all pre-pandemic. VDA received six bids, Melanson says, and interviews and qualification reviews were conducted. Electchester Housing Cos. selected Morgan Elevator as VT contractor. Morgan provided the most-thorough proposal and best pricing proposal, according to Electchester Housing. Vantage was selected to supply the equipment.

This is the kind of job that only comes around once in your lifetime.”

— Morgan Elevator Operations Manager Johnny Morgan

Morgan Elevator Operations Manager Johnny Morgan tells your author that Electchester Housing had three prerequisites for the project. They were:

1. Union labor must be used
2. Suppliers must be local
3. Products must be American-made

“With these factors in mind, Vantage was a solid fit for the project,” Morgan says. “They have also set a lot of industry standards for their equipment.”

For each of the 54 elevators, Vantage provided new:

• GALaxy IV controllers with regenerative drives

• Hollister-Whitney PMAC gearless machines

• Guards

• Rope-grippers

• Governors

• Tension weights

Vantage signal fixtures made with legacy GAL push buttons and switches to match installed equipment

Although specs were provided pre-pandemic, the beginning of construction coincided almost exactly with its onset, Morgan says, adding there were zero major COVID-19 outbreaks throughout the process. However, there were other issues — issues that were successfully overcome.

Considine says:

“Scheduling, timing, coordination and flawless execution were all both requirements and critical success factors for the client, VDA, Morgan Elevator and Vantage. Despite widespread uncertainty in the supply chain, labor shortages and the challenges of working safely, all work on this large-scale project went smoothly. The project started while there were mass shutdowns of work throughout the city, and material was scarce due to COVID-19. Yet, Vantage was able to provide all materials with ease. In addition, Morgan took the necessary steps to order everything in advance and provide storage units onsite to prepare as much material as possible. Morgan was also able to prepare their technicians so that everyone could work safely to stay healthy and meet all timelines while also engaging in the necessary collaboration essential to a job of this scale.”

Challenges also included the NYC area being hit in early September 2021 by deadly and devastating flash flooding. Some of Electchester’s buildings, as well as their elevator pits, were flooded, but the VT team was able to swiftly mitigate damages and avoid shutdowns of the elevators and the project itself.

Melanson says that once the Morgan teams got into the groove of understanding the idiosyncrasies of the various building managers and housing groups, Electchester ownership decided to opt for an accelerated schedule. What had originally been modernizing four elevators at once turned into six. Work began in June 2020, and the project was delivered in December 2021. Melanson says:

“[The Morgan team] basically did that job working six days a week, 10 hours a day — whatever it took. They didn’t miss a beat. I have to really applaud the Morgan staff. I didn’t worry about delays. There might have been one or two instances when a job took two or three days longer than expected, but that was mostly COVID-related when some people couldn’t come to work.”

Melanson says VDA and Electchester have had a relationship dating back at least eight years, and he foresees it continuing for many years to come. Additional improvements have already come about thanks to the recent elevator modernization. A GALaxy GALileo monitoring system is now fully functional on all modernized elevators, he says. “It’s fabulous the way it appears to be working,” Melanson says. Even the newer elevators (in the taller towers) that were not part of the VDA-Morgan-Vantage modernization have been outfitted with GALileo monitoring equipment. “GAL created some special software that talks to the older systems,” Melanson explains.

As a result of the flooding, which Melanson says was something the Electchester community “had never seen before in all their history,” VDA is now working with Electchester management on adding flood-management switches to the elevator system.

As for the 54-elevator mod, Morgan describes it as “fabulous.” He says:

“This is the kind of job that only comes around once in a lifetime. The project went exceedingly well, from design drawings to installation to inspection and then, ultimately, to completion. It is very rare to see a job of this scale go so smoothly, especially with so many different people getting along, coordinating so precisely, staying on the same page and on schedule. All of the preparation leading up to the job paid off and it was truly a collaborative effort.”

References

[1] Paul, Ari. “Electchester: A City Made for Workers,” Urban Omnibus, December 18, 2013.

[2] “Off-Broadway Play Raises the Curtain on Local 3’s Electchester,” The Electrical Worker online, July 2018.