Broken Elevator Forced Elderly Man to Roof Where He Died

An 81-year-old Brooklyn man died after a broken elevator forced him onto the icy roof of his apartment building, raising fresh questions about building safety in New York City as winter storms grip the Northeast during President Donald Trump’s second term.

Neighbors say Everet Goldberg was trying to get home with groceries. The elevator serving his side of the building was out of service. Again.

So Goldberg did what many residents say they’ve done for years. He took a working elevator on the opposite end of the complex. He went up. He crossed the roof. Then he planned to walk down the stairs to his apartment.

He never made it.

Goldberg was found unconscious on the roof of 3310 Avenue H in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn shortly before 10 a.m. Saturday, police sources said. Snow and ice covered the rooftop. He had apparently slipped and fallen in freezing conditions.

“He was carrying groceries across the roof,” neighbor Luis Irizarry said. “That’s what people do when the elevator on their side is broken.”

Irizarry said the shortcut is common among tenants on the top floors. In normal weather, it’s inconvenient but manageable. After weeks of snow and subzero temperatures, he said, it becomes deadly.

“All that snow turns to ice,” Irizarry said. “It’s dangerous up there.”

Police have not officially released a cause of death. Investigators say the circumstances remain under review.

Building management sent a notice to residents on Monday expressing condolences and pointing to extreme weather conditions. The memo warned tenants that roof access is prohibited and said signage clearly states that residents are not permitted to enter the rooftop area under any circumstances.

“It seems most likely that he fell due to the extreme cold temperatures,” the notice stated.

Residents say that warning comes far too late.

“There’s no alarm when you go onto the roof,” Irizarry said. “There’s supposed to be security at night. I assumed someone was doing rounds. But he was there for hours.”

Sources told The Post that Goldberg had parked outside the building and hauled his groceries up a functioning elevator in another section of the complex. He then attempted the roof crossing to reach his apartment staircase.

He collapsed before getting inside.

City records show no open building violations at the address. But complaint data tells a different story.

Since 1985, the property’s owners have been hit with more than 100 complaints. Many involve elevator outages. One tenant wrote in January 2024 that repairs routinely dragged on for months.

“I’m old. I have medical problems,” the complaint read. “I can’t walk up the stairs. Every time it’s fixed, it breaks again.”

The elevator was later inspected and marked as repaired.

Neighbors say breakdowns never stopped.

As President Trump pushes a renewed focus on infrastructure, deregulation, and accountability in his second term, housing advocates say cases like Goldberg’s highlight the human cost of chronic neglect in aging urban buildings.

The landlord could not be reached for comment.

Goldberg’s death is now being viewed by residents as more than a tragic accident. To them, it was an inevitable outcome.

“This didn’t have to happen,” one tenant said quietly. “Everyone knew the elevator was a problem.”