By JEFF LIPTON
The seven-story Lido Shores, at 855 E. Broadway, is undergoing extensive elevator repairs that could take at least six weeks, and Lodichand must negotiate five and a half flights of stairs to reach his co-op apartment.
What's worse, he said, is that he is a caretaker of the owner of the apartment, David Kogut, 54, a resident of Lido Shores since 1999 who has multiple sclerosis and is confined to his bed. Lodichand's wife, Leslie Hyams, 64, who also has MS and uses a wheelchair to get around, also lives in the apartment.
Lodichand, 53, said he is desperately concerned about their welfare if there is an emergency with the building's only elevator out of commission. He blames Lido Shores' managing agent, Topper Realty, for failing to make "reasonable accommodations," as per the Federal Fair Housing Amendment Act of 1988, for the co-op's tenants with disabilities.
"Without an elevator it's a danger. It's like they're in prison," Lodichand said of Kogut and Hyams. "It's horrible and it's very frightening. Last night [May 15] David ran a low-grade fever, and if I'm prepared to call an ambulance, I don't know [how he would go]. I don't sleep at night because of it. I'm all stressed out over this."
The elevator repairs began on May 5, and tenants of the 63 apartments were given 30 days' notice beforehand, which Lodichand said was too little time for someone in his situation. He also could not believe that the elevator would be shut down for about two months, because the problems didn't seem extreme. "It was working well," he said of the elevator. "It was not like it was breaking down."
But Marilyn Topper, managing agent for the building, said the elevator, which is about 50 years old, was definitely not working right and major renovations, which will cost about $100,000, are needed. "We are trying to upgrade the building and rehab the entire elevator system by licensed people," said Topper, who added that the repairs should take six or seven weeks and not the eight weeks Lodichand has been told. "Unfortunately, [Lodichand] is in the situation he is in. He should have paid attention to our notice, which went out long before May 5, saying that the elevator would be shut down."
Topper said that elevator repairs have been discussed for the past two years, and that "it's not something that is brand new." Lodichand, she said, could have made "other accommodations."
Lodichand said that another elevator company inspected the elevator in June 2005 and determined that the work should take three to four weeks and cost about $50,000.
While the elevator is shut down, Lodichand is demanding "reasonable modifications," including that Topper Realty "make money available to us so that we can reside in alternative housing" during the repairs. If that demand is not met, he said, Topper should be responsible for constructing an alternative method for the disabled tenants to get to the street and back to their apartment. "They've been absolutely indifferent about our situation," he said. "They refused to do anything about it or to make reasonable accommodations. Why wouldn't they give me five months' notice?"
Topper said she finds it hard to believe that Lodichand, Kogut and Hyams, who live in a $300,000-plus co-op, "don't have the ability to do something for themselves."
"Everyone else made the necessary accommodations," Topper said.
Almost all of the co-op's 100 residents have heeded the warning and are living elsewhere while the repairs are under way, she added. But one elderly fourth-floor tenant, who did not want to be identified, said she could not leave. "I'm stuck here," she said, "and there's nothing I could do about it. I'm not happy about it." She said she must rely on her two children, who live in the area, to run errands for her.
"It's terrible - it doesn't make sense," she said about the time it will take to complete the repairs. "I can't walk up, I'm too old."
Lodichand said he has asked city and county officials for help, but has hit a dead end. In a May 2 letter to him, City Manager Charles Theofan wrote that it was his belief that Lodichand wrote letters to the management company requesting the repairs. Theofan added that state building code permits elevator service to temporarily shut down in high-rise buildings with only one elevator. "It is my further understanding that you have been aware of this impending situation for several months, which seems ample time to make arrangements to stay at another location for the duration of the repairs," Theofan wrote.
"I can assure you if either your wife and/or Mr. Kogut need to leave the building, our fire department will assist them, just call my office and we will make the necessary arrangements," he added.
Lodichand also called up Nassau County Legislator Dave Denenberg to ask for help. The legislator told Topper it was essential that disabled residents have access to an elevator at all times in case of an emergency, and that the managing agent and the co-op's board of directors should have had a plan in place during elevator repairs. "An acceptable and responsible plan for all its residents during the elevator's maintenance must be adopted and implemented," Denenberg said.
One solution suggested by Lodichand was that he, Hyams and Kogut switch apartments with the building superintendent, who, he said, lives on the first floor, until the elevator is up and running again. But Topper said the super actually lives on the fourth floor, which Lodichand said was absolutely not true.
The BP Elevator Company in the Bronx, which has been hired to do the repairs, declined to comment, referring all calls to Topper Realty, as did the co-op's board of directors.
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
