The city Department of Buildings is investigating after a malfunctioning elevator claimed the life of a 25-year-old man inside a Lower East Side building late Thursday night.
Investigators say it happened around midnight inside the building located at 131 Broome Street on the Lower East Side.
At one point, they say three people were stuck in the elevator.
After prying open the door, they were attempting to climb out, when officials say the elevator began to move.
Witnesses say that's when Stephen Hewett-Brown, 25, helped push a woman to safety before getting crushed between the elevator and the shaft.
"Elevators tried to come down, girl comes to inside the elevator, they pushed the girl out so the girl no stuck on the elevator cause it's the girls that stuck on, stuck for the girl," said one witness.
Public records show the building has three active violations - all elevator defects - dating back to May 2014.
NY1 has reached out to the building's management for comment.