Man Killed in Elevator Accident at Luxury Williamsburg Apartment Building

A 37-year-old man was killed early Friday morning in the elevator shaft of The Espoir, a relatively new luxury apartment building at 156 Hope St. in central Williamsburg, according to the NYPD.

JP Updates, a Jewish news site, identified the man as Eran Modan, a Queens resident and Israeli citizen.

The victim was in an elevator at the building with a group of other individuals around 4:20 a.m., police said, when the elevator apparently became stuck between floors.

“The elevator kind of jerked and the door was ajar,” a spokeswoman for the NYPD told Patch — at which point the victim is believed to have attempted to climb out of the elevator.

However, “the elevator fell two to three feet, causing him to fall while he was trying to exit,” the NYPD spokeswoman said. The man then became pinned between the elevator and the shaft, she said.

When emergency responders arrived, the man was already dead, with signs of trauma to his head and torso, according to police.

NYPD investigators are looking into the circumstances of the man’s death, but for now, it’s believed to have been an accident.

The Espoir was experiencing similar problems with its elevator back in December 2012, city records show. Complaints made to the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) include:

• “Elevator door opens half-way and shakes up and down sometimes when stopping on floor”

• “Only elevator in building is not working again... this happens every 3 or 4 weeks”

• “Only elevator will only go up and only opens half way. It also wobbles and jerks up and down. Unsafe to get it”

After those complaints were filed, an inspection in January 2013 by DOB’s elevator division found no violations, according to the DOB.

Calls to multiple phone numbers listed for Hope Street Holdings, LLC — the company that owns the building — were not immediately answered. The property manager, Goose Property Management, is closed for the Jewish holidays, according to its answering machine.

Th Espoir is advertised on the rental website StreetEasy as “a new rental building with amenities including a gym, roof deck, parking, storage, and a game room.”

An average unit in the building goes for $3,360, StreetEasy reports.

A couple reviews for The Espoir on Yelp include complaints about the building’s management. “The rental office is ok till you move in they they do nothing to help afterwards,” writes a user named Mark J. “They refer you to the management company who are not so helpful.”