This is a
simple tale about a refrigerator replacement in the Big Apple.
We purchased
our apartment on the Upper Eastside of Manhattan in 1998; the former owner was
an interior designer and did things up in the grand style of one of the Louis’,
probably the “Top Louis” to steal a line from Woody Allen. Everything was
built-in to look good, but not actually function all that well. After all, this
was an interior designer, not an architect or engineer.
About one
year ago, our built-in refrigerator started to act up. A repairman tried to
resuscitate, but alas it was not to be; it died. Thus started our quest; the
dilemma was that to replace this 41” wide built-in was more than the price of
an average used car sold in 2011. But to buy a more reasonably priced standalone
model would require a cabinet maker to remodel the built-in, custom made
cupboards. The net price of this alternative would be another used car. We
decided to go with the built-in replacement, a Sub-Zero (the Bentley of cooling
solutions) was the only model with the dimensions we needed.
Our apartment
is on the 8th floor of a pre-war building; moving things in and out
is problematic. A gentleman from the appliance store came to do measurements.
The old fridge is 84” high and couldn’t fit in the freight elevator, nor could
the new one. The old would need to be disassembled to get out, the new
disassembled and re-assembled to get in; of course these services are all “extra”
and would extend the installation over a three day period. There was, for
instance, a $200 charge for the 14 steps leading from the street to the freight
elevator.
Two workers
arrived to pull the old unit out and then left; he said a crew would be here to
deal with the broken fridge and move in the new one. These men showed up about
an hour later; no ladder and a few tools. They borrowed our ladder and
proceeded to try to take the compressor/condenser off the top of the unit; many
perplexed looks. After about a half hour of this, one of them punctured a Freon
line, the gas escaped and refrigerant oil spewed over our floor, cabinets;
literally everything was covered with a greasy slime. They started
halfheartedly to wipe and smear the stuff around with paper towel (our paper
towel) so we told them just to leave it. Dragging the unit out our back door,
they damaged our molding and wall corner bead in several places. It squeezed
into the elevator and it was gone. We quickly cleaned things up as best we
could while they were gone. Not quite the BP Gulf spill, but you get the
picture.
The new base
of the Sub Zero appeared from out of the elevator. Surprise; it would not fit
through our back door in spite of their earlier measurements, so we needed to
go to plan “B.” The freight elevator opens to the 8th floor hallway
as well as our service staircase. This meant dragging the unit over our marble
foyer and through the kitchen door. This door wouldn’t open wide enough; after
the workers were about to give up, I removed the floor stopper which provided
an extra inch and a half of clearance. The new Sub-Zero was placed in the
middle of the kitchen; the crew left – no apology, no goodbye.
The following
morning a certified technician from Sub-Zero arrived to sew together the two
pieces; it came to life about an hour later. Of course, this worker couldn’t
complete the installation; we would need to wait for the arrival of the
original two workers.
An hour or
two later, they showed up, hooked up the water line, removed the protective
packaging; and positioned and leveled our new refrigerator. The man, Rigo, and
his assistant, were at least a bit pleasant; they dragged out the cardboard and
other packing materials on their way out.
The Sub-Zero
looks monstrous; it’s stainless steel finish clashing with other parts of the
kitchen. It looks like more renovation will follow. What’s not to love about
New York?
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