"It was a hardship. None of us could carry very many groceries up. I had to do stairs using a cane. With that and a bag of groceries, it was difficult. It's been very difficult for everyone here," Caporizzo said yesterday. "I'm only on (the second floor). I'm one of the lucky ones."
The 75-year-old widow lives in Intervale Place, a four-story building of 24 condominiums and rental apartments on River Street. The building's residents were first told the elevator was out of service for repairs, she said.
But after her brother, Charles Murray of Bath, N.Y., called the state Department of Public Safety, the truth came out - the state shut down the elevator June 1 after it went uninspected for seven years.
Building owners must arrange to have their elevators inspected on a yearly basis, as well as pay the $400 inspection fee, said department spokeswoman Kelly Nantel. The elevator in Intervale Place was last inspected in 1999, she said, meaning the building's owner, Maine-based developer King Weinstein, failed to schedule the inspections.
"I'm very concerned about my sister," Murray, 79, said. "She lost her husband, and she had to sell her house in Newton, N.H., because she couldn't handle the stairs. One of the reasons she bought this condo was because of the elevator."
Weinstein denied it's been seven years since the elevator was inspected.
"I've been there with (state safety inspectors) since then, so I know that's not correct," he said. "Our whole wait has been just the state. ... We told them there are elderly people (in the building), we need to start immediately. They either don't have the staff, and they're too busy, or they don't care; I don't know which. We've called them at least 100 times, probably more."
Weinstein then said the elevator maintenance contractor he hired, Otis Elevator Company, was responsible for arranging inspections.
"For years they maintained the elevator, scheduled inspections, everything. They must have dropped the ball," he said, adding that he fired Otis last year and hired a new elevator maintenance company.
But Nantel said that explanation doesn't hold water.
"We work with the folks to get them to do the inspections, but ultimately it's the building owner's responsibility to get the inspection," she said.
Murray said he has a problem with that.
"All they're doing is punishing the tenants. They're not punishing (Weinstein)," he said. "I don't understand how the state can come out and lock the elevator. They're not hurting him at all. They're hurting the 24 families that are in there."
Nantel said that's an unfortunate side effect of ensuring the elevator is safe, even if it means forcing Caporizzo to climb the stairs.
"Our focus has to be on the public's safety," she said. "It would be equally a public risk if there was a failure in an elevator that hasn't been inspected in seven years. That's an enormous public safety risk."
For Caporizzo and Murray, the good news is that after weeks of persistent calling, the lift was inspected and put back in service around noon yesterday.
"You wouldn't believe the people I've called," Murray said. "Seven weeks is ridiculous."
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