60 The Queens Courier • buzz • MAY 19, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com buzz LIC’s elevator museum says goodbye BY ANGELA MATUA [email protected]/@AngelaMatua Patrick Carr has spent almost his entire life in the elevator industry and up until last Friday, he was the founder and curator of the only elevator museum in the world based in Queens. The Elevator Historical Society, located at 21-03 44th Ave. on the second floor of the Queens Medallion Leasing building in Long Island City, opened in 2011 and featured about 4,000 items that Carr has collected throughout his career. Carr decided to close the museum, partly because the $5,000 to $6,000 rent price became too much and because he got no support from the elevator industry to run the museum. “I’m not too happy with my peers,” Carr said. “It is our industry and if you don’t study your own history, you’re a fool.” Now, his collection will be going to International Union of Elevator Constructors Local 4 in Boston, where the pieces will live in a 21,000-square-foot space. “I’m pretty much not going to live forever,” Carr said. “My wife would not have a clue what to do with the collectibles. It was wise to basically do this, to get it out there and let someone else enjoy it.” Carr was introduced to the industry by his father, an elevator mechanic, when he was around 11 years old and has stayed in the business ever since. “My dad had a business on the side like a lot of guys did in the early 50s,” Carr said. The Long Island City resident got his first official job in 1961 working to repair elevators for the city in public housing. He worked his way A winning ‘Bee’ is spelled A-P-A-C An amusing abundance of diphthongs and digraphs punctuate the perennially popular production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” The Astoria Performing Arts Center (A.P.A.C.) is the current host. The charming musical comedy offers a handful of likable underdogs who compete for first prize. Of course their backstories reveal a deeper, more poignant message. Director Dev Bondarin’s irreverent collection of eccentrics are adults portraying children. Never an easy task, the troupe performs admirably. The half dozen characters succeed in earning our sympathy and affection. At play’s end, we acknowledge that there is a little bit of lovable nerd in all of us. Olive Ostrovsky, well played by Becca Andrews, is sometimes fascinated and s o m e t i m e s overwhelmed by life. She finds refuge in the endless mysteries of language. Her song, “My Friend the Dictionary,” is her anthem. Unmistakable chemistry emerges between Olive and her strongest competitor, William Barfee. That’s pronounced Bar-FAY, he chides. The character is played with laugh-out-loud cleverness by Patrick Halley. In most scenes, the middle schoolers are burdened by adolescent insecurities. This is especially evident in the exasperating disqualification of Chip Tolentino (Stephen Mark). It is also apparent in icy, seemingly robotic Marcy Park (Emily Borromeo). Some parental conflicts emerge as well. Logainne (Heslens Estevez) is dominated by two overbearing dads. Leaf Coneybear (Lee Slobotkin) is effervescent and just too silly to be taken too seriously. Clearly, the six contestants have plenty of linguistic and emotional hurdles to overcome. Nevertheless, an “E” for effort to every actor. There are actually some adults who portray adults. Three “volunteers” are called from the audience. They join the contestants onstage. Eventually and mercifully they are eliminated. The eversmiling senior moderator Rona Lisa is played with appropriate poise by Lindsie Van Winkle. Vice Principal Panch (Matt Welsh) is all business, except for an unexpected tantrum. Don’t worry, he recovers. Finally, to fulfill community service obligations, Mitch Mahoney (Billy Lowrimore) is the gentle giant who hands out juice boxes to losing spellers. Kudos to APAC for their own special signature to this musical. Applause to Misha Shields (choreography), Michael Ferrara (musical direction), Tim McMath (sets), Jennifer A. Jacob (costumes) and the entire creative team. For information on this and future productions, visit www. apacny.org or call 718-706-5750. As always, save me a seat on the aisle. A VIEW FROM THE CLIFF BY CLIFF KASDEN up and eventually became the vice president for what is now KONE, a leader in the elevator and escalator industry. Carr, 72, is also the founder of several businesses including the former Century Elevator Maintenance Corporation and LIR Group, a personal injury consulting firm. The museum, which was free to enter, featured a large collection of elevator parts and research materials. Some of the objects included molds to make elevator parts, oil cans, motors, car switches and more. “I had this neat collection of really good stuff,” Carr said. “I couldn’t really see it sitting in storage someplace. I rented a space, it was originally a bit smaller than it is now, and started the museum.” Though the museum acted as a place to preserve his items, Carr also used the space to educate people about the industry. He said the museum has had about 3,000 visitors in its five-year existence and he has been able to teach people about the elevator’s origins and try to alleviate some fears people have about the structures. “It was to preserve it but it was also to supply a place where people could research,” Carr said. “I thought it was a great way of putting everything in one place.” He said some frequently asked questions ranged from the safety of elevators to when the first elevator was operational. “It depends on your definition of elevator,” Carr said. Interior cranes were the first structures to carry goods and were powered at the end of the 18th century. The first passenger elevator was operational in 1835 in London, where it was called a lift or ascending room, according to Carr. As for the safety of elevators, Carr argued that simple actions people take every day can be more dangerous. “Can elevators be dangerous?” he said. “So can walking across the street.” The New Yorker first reported the story. THE COURIER/Photo by Angela Matua The Elevator Museum in Long Island City closed after five years.
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