WOMAN REVEALS LUXURY BUILDING IN NEW YORK CITY IS NOT ALL IT WAS MADE OUT TO BE

PEOPLE

 

Woman Climbs 50 Flights in Luxury Building amid Elevator Outage. Then She Drops Her Key Card (Exclusive)

By Ashley Vega  Published on October 7, 2025 12:00PM EDT

 

In New York City, bad days are common. But few compare to carrying your dog up 53 flights of stairs in a luxury high-rise during a rainstorm —only to realize you’ve lost your key card somewhere along the way — an experience Valerie Niemiec knows firsthand.

 

“This wasn’t like the StairMaster,” Niemiec tells PEOPLE, recalling the viral TikTok moment that captured her breathless, rain-soaked ascent with her dog in tow, only to discover she’d lost her key card somewhere along the way.

 

Niemiec lives at the W Residences, a 57-story doorman building connected to the W Hotel and affiliated with Marriott International. When she first toured the apartment, the view of the Statue of Liberty was breathtaking, and the broker was honest about elevator delays — but nothing prepared her for what followed.

 

“I didn’t know that it was possible for both elevators to go down at the same time,” she shares. “And further upon that, I didn’t know it was possible for them to not care.”

 

Niemiec, who works in New York City construction, claims the problems began roughly three weeks ago, with both residential elevators repeatedly failing for hours or days at a time. What initially seemed like a fluke has turned into a near-daily crisis, upending life for residents on every floor.

 

She recalls coming home from an event one night with her phone nearly dead and her body running on fumes. “I didn’t eat dinner, didn’t even have lunch,” she says. “I ran to the lobby and they said both elevators are out — what does that even mean?”

 

Attempting to climb 53 flights, she called her boyfriend to meet her halfway in the stairwell, but misinformation from hotel staff caused confusion, she alleges. “The general manager told me there was only one staircase in the building,” Niemiec says. “That was a lie — there are two.”

 

What followed was chaos: she climbed all the way up, her boyfriend went all the way down, and they passed each other unknowingly in separate stairwells. “It was 12:30 in the morning, I was lightheaded, my phone was dead, and the staff gave me false directions,” she says.

 

Back in her apartment, out of breath and shaken, she remembers how physically grueling the experience was. “My boyfriend is 29, fit, no health issues, and even he said his chest was pounding,” Niemiec tells PEOPLE. “It is physically painful.”

 

The viral TikTok stemmed from another exhausting night when Niemiec returned home in the rain with her dog. She made the 53-floor climb only to realize she’d lost her key card somewhere on the way up.

 

“I slipped and fell, I don’t even know where — maybe the 40th floor,” she says. “I got to my door and realized my key card was gone.”

 

With no way in and her phone barely alive, she reached out to her boyfriend, who offered the doormen $200 to help. “They said, ‘We’re so sorry, we can’t help you,’ ” Niemiec tells PEOPLE. “ ‘It’s not that we didn’t want to. It’s that we can’t.’ ”

 

The building’s staff, she claims, have been instructed not to assist tenants in any capacity, even in emergencies. “You pay extra for a doorman building because you think someone will help you — but really, there’s nothing that anybody’s going to help you with here.”

 

That lack of support extends far beyond inconvenience. Niemiec describes elderly residents and a pregnant neighbor living on the 40th floor, whose mother had to cancel her trip because she physically couldn’t make the climb.

 

“There are many people who are not able-bodied,” she says. “And the worst part of it all is that some of us tenants are trying to band together to help each other — but we’ve been told we’re not allowed to.”

 

In one case, Niemiec says she tried to bring up a grocery delivery for the pregnant woman, but staff stopped her. “They said it’s not my delivery, so I can’t help,” she claims.

 

Meanwhile, hotel staff have refused to let residents use service elevators — even though they reach up to the 30th floor. “The new hotel manager said, ‘This is business and ultimately we have to look out for ourselves,’ ” Niemiec tells PEOPLE. “So now, even though their elevators could literally save lives, we’re banned from using them.”

 

The building’s communication, Niemiec says, has been just as frustrating. “I think the lack of information is the biggest concern,” she says. “Like, my elevators are down right now, and I couldn’t tell you if the tech is on site or not.”

 

With a background in electrical construction, Niemiec says she understands the process — and believes it’s being mishandled. “They’re not making progress,” she says. “They’re sending out emails asking if any residents know a good electrician.”

 

Despite there being consistent building issues, she says management continues renting units for up to $7,000 a month. “They’re actively renting out units knowing they have life safety issues here,” she alleges.

 

Her lease ends this month, and although she once planned to stay, everything has changed. “We were gonna resign until we realized this was a pattern,” she says. “My mom said, ‘You don’t have to be stranded anywhere.’ ”

 

Now, she faces the added challenge of moving out without knowing if an elevator will even be available. “I asked them, ‘If my movers show up and the elevator is down, will you cover the charge?’ They said, ‘Of course not.’ ”

 

She hopes her story raises awareness about the gap between luxury branding and lived experience. “I feel like people have a false sense of security in these buildings,” she tells PEOPLE. “But really, it’s all about the money.”

 

Her final advice to anyone considering a high-rise apartment in New York: “Do your research,” she says. “When I looked this place up, I saw the elevator was always down — I should have known that was just the beginning.”

 

Marriott did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.