If You Go To The Gramercy, Try Not To Die. Use The Stairs.

October 31, 2011 at 9:35 AM | by ASchechter | Comment (1)

Those were the words of actor Josh Charles after a plummeting elevator incident at the Gramercy Park Hotel left him and thirteen others more than a little rattled. It was Thursday night, and the hotel had been hosting a Tribeca Films premier on the rooftop terrace. The event had gone well, and people were in good spirits. Until around midnight, when a (significantly inebriated) crowd stepped into the elevator on their way home.

With the elevator doors still open, floors visibly rushed past the gap, and the crowd realized they were free-falling through the hotel. Director David M. Rosenthal told NY Mag's Vulture: "I think we fell eight stories before the emergency brake went off. We initially thought we'd gone all the way to the basement and bounced on springs." Yikes!

The Good Wife star Josh Charles

Of all times, of course, it had to be Halloween weekend for these people to experience the scariest elevator ride of their lives. Not to mention the panic the hotel must have felt as the helpless crowd waited for someone to explain what was going on, and how they were going to get out of there. From the Vulture's account:

"Says Rosenthal, Josh was getting very frustrated. It was pretty funny. He was like, 'Somebody put their face in front of the fucking thing and tell us what the fuck is going on!' Tensions rose.
The hotel staff finally answered Charles and asked everyone to stay where they were. Then a drunk guy in a suit whom no one knew, says Rosenthal, 'decided he just wanted out of there, so he dropped his glass, which broke on the floor, and climbed through the gap.' Then, says Herzog, 'He turned around and stuck out his hand and was like, 'Okay, who's next?''"

After emerging from the elevator unscathed, and grateful for their lives (though slightly unnerved), a portion of the crowd made a beeline for the nearest bar in an effort to regroup. Unsurprisingly, they bypassed the hotel's Rose Bar�in fact, leaving the property completely�and headed for another spot in the area.

For any elevator riders who were actually staying at the hotel, we're guessing they received more than just a crystal vase for their turndown service the next day.

Moral of the story? Don't ride the elevator at The Gramercy. The hotel is saying the elevator's been fully inspected and fixed. But just to be safe, take Josh's advice and use the stairs.

[Photo: Zimbio]

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