1854, a mechanic in his forties, with a neat moustache and a hat, stood on a platform. This platform is hung high by a cable wound around a drive shaft and above the audience attending the new york Expo 1854. Suddenly, Eliza Graves Oddis ordered the cable to be cut. The audience held their breath. The platform dropped a few feet and then stopped. Oddis took off his hat and cheered, "completely safe, gentlemen, completely safe." The elevator was born in this city.

The elevator had already appeared before this. However, Oddis designed a spring to embed two steel teeth into the V-shaped notch of the slide to prevent the cable from breaking, so he built the world's first safety elevator.