Meet one of the last elevator operators in NYC: ‘It feels good to know I have a rare job’ By . ... That old-world feel,” said Sciallia. “It’s a different era for them.

Manual elevator operators were once the lifeblood of vertical living in New York City. In the mid-20th century, the census counted more than 90,000 elevator operators nationwide.

Stepping into a stationary elevator won’t be the same as riding with an operator, though. “I’ll miss these old babies when they put ’em out to pasture,” Bradley says. “They won’t go ...

The feeling that you’re in some bygone age only intensifies when you step onto the 95-year-old, wood-paneled Otis elevator and the elevator operator asks you what floor you need.