Letter: LIRR escalator a chronic problem
The closed-down escalator at the Lindenhurst LIRR station (March 26, 2012) Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas
A woman was killed after falling on the escalator at the Lindenhurst Long Island Rail Road station ["A new look at escalator safety," News, March 27]. It was a tragic event, and my heart goes out to her family.
When I heard the news, I immediately thought of my own mother, who is a spry 88 years young, and how it would devastate me to have her die in such a horrible manner. Irene Bernatzky fell on the up escalator and was asphyxiated by a piece of clothing that got entangled in the moving steps.
I use this escalator every day to commute to work. Without it, there would be more than 50 steps to climb. For those who are elderly or disabled, these steps can be daunting or even impossible.
This escalator has broken down many times. I understand that an investigation of the problem needs to be done. But for how long? How long can it possibly take for an inspector to do his job and then either turn it back on or declare it unfit? It stands as another monument to bureaucracy and inefficiency.
Thomas Sheridan, West Babylon
