Man crushed by lift in New York building

A 30-year-old man has been crushed to death by a falling elevator in his luxury New York apartment building.

Samuel Waisbren rode the elevator down to the lobby of the 23-storey building with six other residents on Thursday, but didn't make it out alive.

Waisbren started to walk out of the elevator on the heels of another passenger when the lift suddenly plummeted, crushing him, according to officials and a building worker who witnessed the accident.

The passenger who made it off the elevator spun around and tried to help the trapped victim.

The five people who remained on the descending elevator were forced to watch as Waisbren was sucked into the gap between the shaft and the elevator car, officials said.

Arpaia said responding firefighters scrambled to remove the five horrified passengers and free the victim.

The building has 17 past building violations, none of them for elevator issues. But residents said the building's two elevators have long been an issue.

City Buildings Department inspectors were investigating the malfunction.