August 24, 2010
The Record
Name, job, title: John Canetti, 56, of West Milford
is an elevator mechanic for Liberty Elevator Corp. of Paterson who
has worked at many famous structures, including the 1980s
renovation of the Statue of Liberty.
How long on the job?: 37 years, the last eight of
those with Liberty Elevator.
How he got the job: "My dad was in the business. He
would always say to me, 'Johnny, you want to be an elevator man?'
I'd be like 'Yeah, Dad!' and he'd say 'What are you, nuts?
What he does: "I'm in modernization. I go into a
building that's been up for 30 years, where the elevators have just
been beat to hell, and take them apart and replace every single
part we can - the door operating mechanisms, the wiring."
What makes a good elevator repairman?: "You have to
have a logical mind. Be able to analyze a job. And you can't be
afraid of heights."
Training: He is a member of the International Union
of Elevator Constructors, Local 1. The union has a four-year
apprenticeship program with eight hours of classes a week and final
exams that must be passed before apprentices can advance to
journeymen.
Salary range: About $40,000 to start, but the
average range is $80,000 to $100,000, and experienced repairmen
willing to work overtime can make $125,000 or more in the New
York/New Jersey area.
What he likes best about the job: "When you do a
modernization in an older building, the elevators have been so
abused, and the service of the elevator is absolutely horrendous.
People wait for the elevator for five, six minutes. By the time we
get done upgrading it, the performance of the whole system is
tenfold better."
How dangerous is it?: "Probably the most hazardous
part of this business is something coming down the shaft and
hitting you. The last job I did we were working in the shaft and
they had electricians working upstairs and all of a sudden we hear
drilling upstairs. What's going on? The next thing a piece of
concrete comes down the shaft."
Question he gets asked all the time: "How long can
we breathe in there if the elevator gets stuck? People think
they're going to run out of air."
What he tells them: "You can breathe as long as you
need to. The elevator shafts are not sealed. There's plenty of air
circulating at all times."
Other question he gets asked all the time: "Do you
work for Otis? As if that is the only elevator company."
By: Joan Verdon
E-mail:
verdon@northjersey.com
Reprinted with permission ©2010 The Record (Bergen Co., NJ) / www.NorthJersey.com
Images: ©2010 The Record (Bergen Co., NJ) / Tyson Trish