An Unexplained Death. Mikita Brottman

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      The roof is reached via a ladder in the attic, but the attic is hard to find. There are two ways to get there. One is through a door, accessible only to staff, at the back of the 13th Floor nightclub. The other way is through a door in the service area next to the kitchens on the twelfth floor, which is also off-limits. This door is marked “No Entry.” A resident’s key card is needed in order to take any of the building’s four elevators, but even the card will take you only to the tenth floor. To go any higher, the elevator must be unlocked by the concierge.

      From the attic, however, the ladder that leads to the roof is not difficult to find. The rest of the attic space is taken up by the elevator mechanisms, heating and cooling ducts, insulated pipes, fuse boxes, storage areas, and a loft space lit by a dusty glass skylight. When I was up there, someone had put a table and two chairs in this space; on the table were a pack of cards and an ashtray full of stale butts. There was also a dead fern hanging from the rafters in a plastic pot. I wondered whether the bartenders or cleaning staff were using the loft as a place to relax or nap between shifts. Farther back was a narrow hallway leading to a series of small, low-ceilinged rooms where the hotel’s staff once slept.

      According to the police report, “it was determined that the roof was accessible.” I do not know where this information came from or what it means, but it is true that in 2006, when Rivera found his way to the roof, the elevator was often left unlocked, many of the fire doors were not alarmed, the security cameras didn’t always work, and the bartenders at the 13th Floor would go up to the roof to smoke, so the roof access door was usually left unlocked.