39 Floors, 41 Hours
Here’s something you already know: smoking cigarettes is bad for you. It can cause lung cancer, emphysema, throat cancer, and more. And, in very rare cases, it can lead to claustrophobia and even dehydration.
Indirectly.
Just ask Nicholas White, who 26 years ago today, experienced all of that first-hand. He was a production manager for a magazine and working late. Like many smokers, the then 34-year-old did what a lot of smokers do — he decided to go for a smoke break. But as he was working on the 39th floor of a New York City skyscraper, that wasn’t as easy as just walking outside. He needed to take an elevator to the building’s lobby — something thousands of people did that day without incident — and then he could exit the building.
It went fine. But when he went back to work, something went wrong. As ABC News reported, White entered Elevator #30 and “was returning to his office on the 39th floor when the elevator stopped abruptly between floors.” This was before everyone had a cellphone, so White rang the alarm bell in the now-stuck elevator and waited for help.
It didn’t come anytime soon. October 15th was a Friday, and it was already very late in the evening — and no one seemed to notice that White was stuck. He waited for someone to come. And waited. And waited. About an hour into the ordeal, he climbed onto the handle bar attached to the elevator wall, reaching toward the ceiling, hoping to escape via a vent, but nothing came of it. He spent the next two or so hours pacing around the maybe five-foot by five-foot room, until he finally laid down — it was now about 3 or 4 AM. He tossed and turned for a few hours, waking at about 9 AM. At that point — a Saturday morning — a few people returned to the building, including someone apparently doing maintenance work outside of Elevator #29 as it waited in the lobby. But still, no one noticed that Elevator #30 was stuck with a person inside. White laid back down for a few more hours.
About 13 hours after his stalled trip to the 39th floor began, the elevator doors opened — by him. The elevator was still stuck between floors abut White apparently had to relieve himself, and he figured that would be a good way to do it. And then, for ten more hours, he alternated between laying down, pacing, and (it’s not quite clear), cleaning out his wallet — and then, at hour 23, he climbed that bar again. And again, it was to no avail. By now, the building was long vacant, again, and no one had come to help.
The hours continued to mercilessly tick by, with White lying down, pacing, opening the doors to see the exposed walls, and not much else. And then, success, as ABC News shared: “On Sunday at 4 p.m., White, who was nearly delirious from thirst, heard a voice on the intercom asking if anyone was there. Finally, he was rescued.” In total, he was stuck for 41 hours — nearly two full days. The whole ordeal was captured on the security camera; you can see a time lapse version here.
Per CBS News, the elevator malfunction was caused by “a power voltage dip lasting one-tenth of a second that held the elevator stationary just above the 13th floor,” although it’s unclear why it took so long before someone noticed the young man on the security cameras, or that the elevator hadn’t moved for more than a day and a half. White survived the ordeal and, at least financially, came out ahead. According to CNN, for his nearly two days of not being able to get back to the office, White “got a six-figure settlement from the building,”
Bonus fact: The general rule of elevators is, if there’s an emergency, don’t use one — the stairs are a much safer way of exiting a building. But if the emergency doesn’t require you to get out of the building, taking shelter in an elevator may be a good idea — and if history is any guide, it also may help you become famous. In the early 1970s, a pair of teenage guitarists, each in a different band, were scheduled to perform in a Philadelphia bar. But before they could, a fight broke out, and rival gangs busted out guns and started shooting. Both guitarists took shelter in a freight elevator, meeting for the first time, and became immediate friends, according to an interview with the Guardian. The two young men were John Oates and Daryl Hall, who would later form the duo Hall and Oates. (And remember, in case you ever are in a Hall and Oates-related emergency, just dial 719-266-2837.)
From the Archives: Atlanta’s Fight to Separate Elevators and Restrooms: Nicholas White had an excuse to turn his elevator into a bathroom. What’s Atlanta’s excuse?