A Day of Ups and Downs

Eight hours a day, five days a week, John Petruzzi sits on an old wooden and metal chair behind a pair of sliding, metal doors. Hundreds of times a day he presses the same two buttons and takes hundreds of 30-second trips. Within the 10 by 13 square feet area, he also greets thousands of people. Yet Petruzzi's job is one of the loneliest in New York City.

PHOTO: Iwona K. Hoffman Empty elevators are an unusual scene at the 181st Street Station on the 1 line.

For the last five years, Petruzzi he has been an elevator operator at one of the four subway stations in Manhattan which are accessible only by elevators.

"Have a good day," Petruzzi says every time he opens the door and lets people out. And those are often the only words he can exchange with passengers during the quick trip.

But he remembers faces.

"Not much time to have a conversation," he says. "But you get to know people, you see them everyday."

"¡Hola!" says an older man entering the elevator. "Hola!, Como estas?" answers Petruzzi, who is Italian-American but can speak some Spanish.

The huge elevator, one of three at the 181st Street station holds about 30 people at once. Two ceiling fans stir the stuffy air and make a monotonous noise. Four fluorescent fixtures light the space.

Other elevator operators in the past chose to liven up their working space by putting up photos and decorations or by playing music. But the Transit Authority wasn't very happy with the idea.

Petruzzi's only personal item is a table fan that helps him freshen the air.

The station is one of the city's busiest, and Petruzzi must sit behind a wooden barrier to prevent the crowd from squeezing him. But there are times when he goes up or down the 140-foot trip empty. That's when he takes a moment to read a newspaper.

"I like the P.M. shift," says Petruzzi, who commutes to work from the Bronx and works Monday through Friday, from 2 to 10 p.m.

"You get the night differential [extra pay] from 6 o'clock till 10, you still get home at a decent time, you can get some good sleep. You don't have to get up early in the morning, and if you do, you still have time to take care of a few things."

Petruzzi doesn't say he likes the job, but he does not complain either.

PHOTO: Marta Ferrer As soon as the doors open, passengers rush to take their "favorite spot" inside the elevator.

"If I had a choice, I would rather not be here," he says. "Sitting here is boring, I can't get up and just take a walk. But I accept it; you have to, you learn to deal with it. At first it might have been hard, but after so many years I got used to it. You get used to a lot of things."

Every Friday Petruzzi looks forward to his weekend. He doesn't have a wife and kids, but he usually meets with friends, spends time with his parents, and goes fishing. As the weekend approaches, he does think about his passengers.

"Have a good weekend," he says. Some people wish him the same. Others are too busy, in a hurry, and leave without saying anything.

Sometime soon Petruzzi will be taking a one-week vacation.

"I want to spend some time with my parents," he says. "I want to take them to the Museum of Natural History, take them to the new space show."

Another 30 seconds down. A few people rush to catch an upcoming subway. A lot of people rush in; everybody wants to take the favorite spot, near the entrance.

"Everybody who gets in wants to stand right here," Petruzzi says and laughs. "Some people fight to get out, some fight to get through them. In New York everybody has to rush, I don't know why. I should make money and sell it [the spot]. It's the most expensive piece of real estate in New York."

Go to In the Company of Horses or Unlimited Naked Power

On the Job, On Their Own
A Day of Ups and Downs
In the Company of Horses
Unlimited Naked Power

 

Stations with Elevators