No Exit
If hell is other people, is this heaven?
Saved Deliveryman Thanks Everyone, Says He's 'Fine'
UPDATED: 10:43 am EDT April 6, 2005
NEW YORK -- Ming Kuang Chen was written off after vanishing last Friday night while making a delivery for Happy Dragon restaurant at a high-rise apartment building in the Bronx.
Deliveryman Found In Elevator
As police conducted a massive search and days passed, speculation grew that the 35-year-old Chen was the victim of armed bandits or some other urban horror.
But more than three days later, the disappearing deliveryman emerged with a mean thirst and a tale of survival: he had been stuck by himself in an elevator the whole time, without food or water. He was pulled out at about 5 a.m. Tuesday by firefighters responding to an emergency call at the high-rise.
"Thanks for everyone caring about me," Chen said afterward in an interview with ETTV, a Taiwan-based news network. "I'm fine now."
Chen -- an illegal immigrant from the Fujian Province in southeastern China who speaks mostly Mandarin -- apparently tried to tell rescuers how long he had been trapped by circling his watch dial with his finger numerous times, said Charlie Markey, a Fire Department spokesman.
The deliveryman was given water at the scene before being taken to Montefiore Medical Center. He was treated for minor dehydration, but "that was all. ... He was in very good condition," said hospital spokesman Steve Osborne.
On Tuesday, authorities -- who conducted a door-to-door canvass of the apartment complex over the weekend -- were questioning why police officers and the building's private security force found no sign of Chen, who claimed he had repeatedly cried out and pushed an alarm button in the elevator.
"I tried to knock (down) the door and kept screaming for help, but no response," Chen said in the television interview. "During the time I was stuck in the elevator, I just kept sleeping because I don't know what else to do."
Chen was last seen about 8:30 p.m. Friday after making three deliveries at the same apartment complex in the Bedford Park neighborhood. He later told police through a translator that he had entered an elevator on the 32nd floor of a 38-story building when it plunged down and became stuck between the third and fourth floors.
An investigation on Tuesday determined that the security camera and alarm system in the elevator were working. But security officers told police they never heard nor saw Chen until they received his emergency call early Tuesday.
Even maintenance workers who were called to check out the disabled elevator on Monday missed Chen, police said.
Those questions aside, Mayor Michael Bloomberg marveled at Chen's good luck.
"If they were there and they searched and they didn't find him, thank God it turned out that he's OK," the mayor said. "I think we should all be thankful that the man's alive."
I was here. Then I wasn't. Then I was again.
[QUOTE=Parkaboy]"During the time I was stuck in the elevator, I just kept sleeping because I don't know what else to do."
[/QUOTE]
I laughed a lot at this part.
[QUOTE=snuffy]the funny thing is, he may get deported because he's an illegal alien.[/QUOTE]
Or get a free green card somehow out of this ordeal.
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[QUOTE=FuzzBusta]Or get a free green card somehow out of this ordeal.[/QUOTE]
that would set a bad example. then we'll have foreigners sleeping in elevators and eating chinese food all over the place.
But at least we'd get an entertaining few weeks of oddball news.
"And today in the Bronx the 14th elevator sabotage within the past 48 hours resulted in uncovering a family of 7 attempting to acquire citizenship through the new "Ming Kuang Chen" precedent"
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[QUOTE=FuzzBusta]But at least we'd get an entertaining few weeks of oddball news.
"And today in the Bronx the 14th elevator sabotage within the past 48 hours resulted in uncovering a family of 7 attempting to acquire citizenship through the new "Ming Kuang Chen" precedent"[/QUOTE]
bring some books and some porn, you're good to go.
maybe a toothbrush?
or a superball. superballs are endless amouts of fun on stuck elevators.
Where would you spit the toothpaste out? Those OralB brush-ups though would be good to bring on the other hand.
Note to self: if ever in the city, bring superball in case I get stuck in an elevator.
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[QUOTE=FuzzBusta]Where would you spit the toothpaste out? Those OralB brush-ups though would be good to bring on the other hand.
Note to self: if ever in the city, bring superball in case I get stuck in an elevator.[/QUOTE]
wait, you don't carry a superball at all times? fricken communist.
I do carry a Zippo. True american right there, beat that!
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[QUOTE=FuzzBusta]I do carry a Zippo. True american right there, beat that![/QUOTE]
i carry a zippo AND zippo fluid.
PWNED!!!!!
Wicks and replacement flints too? Didn't think so. Advantage: Fuzz.
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[QUOTE=FuzzBusta]Wicks and replacement flints too? Didn't think so. Advantage: Fuzz.[/QUOTE]
castile soap, matches, knife, knife shapener...
What the hell is castile soap?
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[QUOTE=FuzzBusta]What the hell is castile soap?[/QUOTE]
it's natural, multi-use soap. you can use it to brush your teeth, wash your hair, whatever. good stuff. i mean, it's kinda hippy, but whatever.
[QUOTE=snuffy]it's kinda hippy[/QUOTE]
And I'm the commie? Bah!
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[QUOTE=FuzzBusta]And I'm the commie? Bah![/QUOTE]
i'm no communist, i'm just paranoid. when the apocalypse comes, i want to smell minty fresh.
Yep,
This is exactly what my neighborhood is like.
They're not even exxagerating.
God, I love the Bronx.
-NARS.
[QUOTE=FuzzBusta]Where would you spit the toothpaste out? Those OralB brush-ups though would be good to bring on the other hand.
Note to self: if ever in the city, bring superball in case I get stuck in an elevator.[/QUOTE]
In the porn, with the rest of the stuff you "spit out".
I was here. Then I wasn't. Then I was again.
[QUOTE=snuffy]castile soap, matches, knife, knife shapener...[/QUOTE]
[img]http://home.comcast.net/~dlites/boy_scout_holding_flag_lg_wm.gif[/img]
I was here. Then I wasn't. Then I was again.
I still don't understand how the elevator repair guy missed him.
[QUOTE=mr_hash]I still don't understand how the elevator repair guy missed him.[/QUOTE]
Maybe they didn't go in the actual elevator.
Or perhaps he's making the whole thing up and he was really fraternizing with some hookers and doesn't want his girlfriend to know.
"No, baby.... I was stuck in an elevator for three days, I swear."
I was here. Then I wasn't. Then I was again.
[QUOTE=Parkaboy][img]http://home.comcast.net/~dlites/boy_scout_holding_flag_lg_wm.gif[/img][/QUOTE]
[img]http://www.ingo-burmester.de/Last_Boyscout.jpg[/img]
yeah, i dont get it. three days on an elevator that had a repair man, a security camera, guards. i think this is a hoax and i'm declaring a state of shinanogans.
[IMG]http://pbskids.org/clifford/shared/images/games/help/broom.gif[/IMG]
[QUOTE=alex cassun]yeah, i dont get it. three days on an elevator that had a repair man, a security camera, guards. i think this is a hoax and i'm declaring a state of shinanogans.
[IMG]http://pbskids.org/clifford/shared/images/games/help/broom.gif[/IMG][/QUOTE]
What does the push broom have to do with shenanigans?
I was here. Then I wasn't. Then I was again.
you can't declare a proper state of shenanogans without a broom.
[QUOTE=alex cassun]you can't declare a proper state of shenanogans without a broom.[/QUOTE]
Can you declare a state of [I]shenanigans[/I] without a broom?
I was here. Then I wasn't. Then I was again.
po-tay-toe/po-taut-oh.
[QUOTE=alex cassun]po-tay-toe/po-taut-oh.[/QUOTE]
Yes, but both are still spelled: Potato.
I was here. Then I wasn't. Then I was again.
true. i was spelling shinanogans the british way.
[QUOTE=alex cassun]true. i was spelling shinanogans the british way.[/QUOTE]
Also the same.
I was here. Then I wasn't. Then I was again.
says you.
[QUOTE=alex cassun]says you.[/QUOTE]
Says the OED.
I was here. Then I wasn't. Then I was again.
FOLLOW-UP:
[QUOTE=random internet news source]The Chinese food deliveryman who was trapped for 31/2 days in an elevator went into hiding yesterday — fearing his newfound fame may get him in hot-and-sour soup with immigration officials.
"He left the city," one of Ming Kuang Chen's roommates said through an interpreter. "He's an illegal immigrant and he's afraid people will catch him."
After his ordeal — which set off an intensive police manhunt — Chen's co-workers at the Happy Dragon restaurant in The Bronx said they didn't know if he would return to work.
"He's recovering. We don't know if he's coming back. We haven't spoken to him," said a woman working the counter.
Immigration officials, however, say Chen has little to worry about despite his picture being splashed all over the news.
"If the guy doesn't come up as a major hit, like a national security threat or with a violent criminal record we just don't have the resources to pursue every single case," said an official who spoke on condition anonymity. "He's a nobody."
Regardless, Mayor Bloomberg is furious that Chen's immigration status was revealed as cops searched for him.
"It's unconscionable. His immigration status had nothing to do with it whatsoever. It should not have been divulged," he said yesterday. "It would be in direct violations of the executive order that I signed."
In 2003, Bloomberg strengthened a longstanding rule that prevented city employees, such as police officers or social service workers, from reporting the immigration status of residents to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Chen says he got stuck in the elevator Friday evening after making several deliveries in the Tracey Towers on West Mosholu Parkway South. He remained there — caught between floors — until Tuesday morning.
Chen insists he repeatedly pressed the elevator's alarm and intercom but could not communicate his situation to building employees because he speaks little English. The building's managers, however, say they didn't hear a thing from Chen until Tuesday.
Meanwhile, after he didn't return to work, Chen's employers called police who launched a full-on manhunt, going door to door in the building and searching surrounding parks with bloodhounds. Little did they know, Chen was in their midst the whole time.
[/QUOTE]heh.
[QUOTE=alex cassun]FOLLOW-UP:
heh.[/QUOTE]
Poor Chen....
I was here. Then I wasn't. Then I was again.
the funny thing is, he may get deported because he's an illegal alien.