Down please

Two New York men nearly drown -- in an elevator

Hey Larry! the basement looks a little damp. Get a mop!

Two New York City construction workers were rescued Sunday morning after they were trapped in an elevator flooded by heavy rains. By the time rescuers arrived, the pair were standing on supply carts in water that was neck-high -- and rising. The men were working at the former Staten Island Hotel in New York City on Sunday morning, using the elevator to move construction supplies between floors. It was raining heavily outside. The elevator began malfunctioning, refusing to stop at the upper floors.

So after a bit of button punching, the men headed to the basement. Only they had no idea that the basement in the old building was rapidly taking on water. Capt. James Melvin of the New York City Fire Department said that when the elevator hit water, it "started sinking slowly."