People with disabilities face uphill climb at Amalgamated Housing co-ops

At 68, Debbie Rubin-Margolin’s means of travel has included a walker and her building’s power ramp for disability access to go outside, which made her feel safe and secure. However, that changed last year when the ramp stopped working.

Since Oct. 8 Rubin-Margolin has had to rely on other people to get up and down the stairs at Amalgamated Housing Corp. co-op at 3980 Orloff Ave. Nearly 10 months later, she and others who use wheelchairs or walkers are left to fend for themselves.

Moreover, she was the last person to ride it. She knew something was wrong when it made a “funny noise” and stopped moving.

She called the service department, and when he came, he determined the equipment was broken and needed to be replaced.

The lift is similar to what some might see in a house where the owner sits, bringing them up and down their steps. However, this one is wheelchair accessible.

“And at that point, I said — OK, it’s going to be a week, it’ll be fixed in a maximum of two weeks,” she said. “Now it’s more than six months.”

Currently, residents at Orloff need an extra hand to walk up the six steps in the front of the building. That does not include the vestibule, where there is one additional step. 

Rubin-Margolin’s husband, Barry, was observed helping his neighbors with walkers go up the steps. Sometimes hold their hand and bring the walker afterward when they are entirely inside.

He does not mind it, he said. He “likes to help out.”

The Orloff building’s lift is connected to the laundry room — which has an elevator. Rubin-Margolin would use the elevator from the third floor. Once the lift reaches the top step and the “passenger” leaves, there is a street-level door.

But the residents need to wait for easy access. It can take years for it to get back up and running.

The lift was installed about 15 years ago, and the board received a quote from Heavy Lift —its company — of $27,000 to replace it. Repairing is not an option right now, according to the general manager Charles Zsebedics.

“The company is pretty responsive for quick repairs — before we knew it, they couldn’t fix it,” he said.

It’s beyond repair. And beyond an option to replace. “We’re in a financial crisis,” Zsebedics said. At first, they purchased parts for around $6,000, which was wasted because the entire lift was broken.

There are not enough funds to address regular operating system repairs. And there are no operating reserves to speak of. They are also in arrears to vendors for more than $2 million. While the lift is a priority, there is also not enough cash flow available.

“It just didn’t come out the way we expected it to be, unfortunately,” he said.

Purchasing parts and maintaining it is similar to that of a car. “Sometimes the mechanic says I’m going to try and fix it for you. And then he says, Guess what? I can fix it for you,” the general manager said. “I can get it running, but it’s not going to last too long.”

And you know, at that point, you got to make a decision. Do you want to be stuck somewhere stranded somewhere? Or do you want to go run out to the dealership and buy a brand new car if you can afford it?”

Instead, the board offers shareholders to transfer to other apartments that fit their needs.

Jennifer Rankin, the assistant general manager, explained a situation of a tenant who is a wheelchair user. The shareholder’s daughter is not interested in relocating her mother.

The problem some shareholders have with that is moving is not easy. Furthermore, if you are a wheelchair user or cannot walk around — someone else needs to do it. Meanwhile, there is only a small transportation fee.

However, Rubin-Margolin and her husband were unaware that the option to relocate was on the table. But they were totally against it.

“I don’t want to move, I raised my kids here — 30 years, and he’s (Barry’s) been here his whole life, and really, now we should move?” she said.

Zsebedics agreed with some residents and mentioned that moving can be a difficult situation to try and relocate. However, the 98 Van Cortlandt Park building at Amalgamated has a cement ramp that goes towards the basement. No steps would be needed.

For the Orloff building, “We’ve had porters literally carry her (shareholder) wheelchair in and out of the building,” Rankin said. “We’re always available; people have called and asked for a lift.”

“The porters who take care of the garbage would be around in the basement, and I would ask them ‘please can you help me down the stairs’ they would be happy to do it, especially Henry, who is the same age as me,” Rubin-Margolin said.

And the way security works is more complicated than it sounds. It requires waiting and a cell phone. If a shareholder wants to enter or leave their house, they would call the security department would come which can take no less than 20 minutes.

“I don’t feel like I matter to the co-op,” she continued.

But this is not the first time the lift stopped working. Rubin-Margolin said several years ago was the first experience she had where it did not work. And it was an emergency where she needed to go to the hospital.

On some occasions, it would be “out of service,” but according to the shareholder, it was never out for more than one month. The general manager said they have a contract with their company for a quarterly maintenance agreement — similar to an elevator four times a year minimum.

The residents want the board to start fundraising with five or so organizations and use those funds to replace the lift. Perhaps if they found ways to allocate more money, it would help, Rubin-Margolin said.

“It’s a lifeline for people like me.”

“But the problem of the Amalgamated is we’re not governed wholeheartedly by any jurisdiction, which is how they can avoid dealing with stuff like this,” she explained.

Zsebedics would like to do more for such shareholders.

“We feel very bad and, in this circumstance, that we can’t do anything about it,” he said. “But you know, that money makes the world go around, and somehow we’re going to have to figure out. The board of directors is working on this issue along with myself and my immediate staff to figure out what are the next steps forward.”