An exterior elevator that was undergoing maintenance malfunctioned Tuesday afternoon, causing those inside to feel the building shake, according to the DOB and building officials.
There were some rattled nerves at New York City's second-tallest office building after an elevator malfunction caused floors to shake inside, according to building officials.
People inside One Vanderbilt, the 93-story building next to Grand Central Terminal in midtown Manhattan that opened in 2020, said they could feel the skyscraper was shaking Monday afternoon.
The NYC's Department of Buildings told NBC New York that an exterior elevator malfunction led to the shaking feeling inside. The DOB said a crew was working on an outdoor lift at SUMMIT One Vanderbilt — the tourist attraction and partially outdoor terrace area atop the building with sweeping views of the city — when a mechanical problem caused several floors to shake.
While three workers were doing a software update on the elevator, the car dropped approximately three stories, according to the DOB, landing at the bottom of its track on the 93rd floor. That impacted a set of springs which are designed to catch the elevator in such falls, and that impact may have led to people inside to feel shaking.
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
SUMMIT One Vanderbilt was closed to the public at the time, officials said. The three workers inside the elevator car at the time of the drop suffered minor injuries, and there was no danger to to the building or occupants.
The elevator that was underdoing maintenance will need to be fixed, but a building official said there were no major issues wrong with it. The DOB said there were no structural stability concerns or danger to the public, and their investigation is ongoing.
