‘Now she’s gone’
Family mourns mom killed on job by illegally installed elevator at market
A malfunctioning elevator that killed a Manhattan supermarket employee was illegally installed, the Buildings Department said Wednesday — leaving the woman’s grieving family furious over the hazardous working conditions.
Maria Sanchez was loading the small dumbwaiter elevator in the basement of the Hell’s Kitchen Food Emporium on Tuesday afternoon when it lurched upward, crushing her head, according to police and Buildings Department officials. Sanchez died at the scene.
The victim’s daughter, 21-yearold Jeylin, said her hard-working mother, who moved to the United States from Mexico 15 years ago, deserved better from her employer.
“As an immigrant, you come to this country to work to provide a better life for yourself — and for that place of work to take your life is unfair,” said Jeylin, noting her mom had worked for Food Emporium for about five years and that her father, Odilón Juarez, is also employed by the grocer.
“The work conditions for minorities are overlooked — and minorities were most of the workers [at this store],” she told The News from the family’s Bronx home. “Companies overlook us. They don’t care about the safety of their workers. You die, they replace you.”
Sanchez, a mother of four between ages 5 and 21, worked two jobs to support her family, including her mom in Tlaxcala, Mexico.
“She was working 48 hours per week,” said Jeylin. “She never put anybody before her kids. Whether she had to work seven days a week, she would do it.”
Wednesday would have been a rare day off for Sanchez.
“We used to say that we were lucky that all of us made it, none of us got sick with COVID,” Jeylin said. “And now she’s gone.”
The Buildings Department immediately shut down the dumbwaiter following the incident and issued a violation to the owner of the building, Manhattan Plaza Inc.
“This tragic incident shows just how dangerous unregistered illegally installed devices can be for New Yorkers,” a Buildings Department spokesperson said in a statement. “We have shut down the dumbwaiter elevator and will be thoroughly investigating this incident.”
Manhattan Plaza Inc. could not be reached for comment.
Multiple requests for comment to Food Emporium went unanswered Wednesday. A manager at the Hell’s Kitchen store told The News, “Our comment is no comment.”
Sanchez’s cousin, Rene Sanchez — who works at the same supermarket, but was off on Tuesday — said he had hooked her up with the job years ago.
He rushed to the store as soon as he heard what had happened.
“The guys who saw it happen told me that she’d had an accident. When I came to see her, she was already under the elevator ... She died instantly,” said Sanchez, who grew up with the victim in Mexico. “They told me she was placing merchandise under it and someone pushed the button and it went up — so I don’t know how it fell.”
“[That elevator] had issues. Mechanics came to fix it, but they didn’t fix it well,” he added.
“She spent most of her time working, and the other time she spent with her kids,” he added. “The kids are inconsolable.”