12.30.07 IT’S PRONOUNCED “ESCALATOR”

An escalator malfunctioned last night at Giants Stadium injuring 7 people. Or was it an elevator?

The escalator at Gate A apparently failed at the bottom steps, state police Lt. Jim Crann said. The escalator runs from the stadium's upper tier to the ground level, and Crann said it appeared that some bottom steps became bent, causing some fans to sustain foot and leg injuries . . .  "The elevator apparently started running fast" [executive vice president of facilities for the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, James] Minish said, adding that all of the stadium's escalators were turned off after the incident and would not be in use during Sunday's game there between the New York Jets and the Kansas City Chiefs. Minish said the incident would be thoroughly investigated and that the escalators "would not be used for a while."

Before you accuse Mr. Minish of being a nepotistic hire who doesn't know the difference between an escalator and an elevator, as executive VP of facilities for the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, he may refer to 'escalators' as 'elevators' because revolving stairways and endless conveyors were called elevators in the 19th century. When I was Executive Assistant to the Sanitation Engineer in charge of Ceramic Fixture Viability at the steel mill, I would call a mop, a toilet brush, and a plunger all a "shit stick" even though there are subtle differences. -KD