An increasing number of elevators in New York are breaking and are not being repaired due to a lack of enforcement by the city, according to The New York Times. An examination by The Times found that inspectors from the city’s Buildings Department take weeks to respond to complaints, the city rarely fines violators and those fines often go unpaid. The Buildings Department must regulate 56,000 elevators in 20,000 buildings, but is doing so with fewer inspectors and inadequate laws, leading the city to depend on an honors system of enforcement by the real estate industry.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/15/nyregion/15elevator.html?ref=nyregion