Mr. Waisbren said that his son moved to New York about five years ago. He shared an apartment with his girlfriend and worked in sales for a software company, CB Insights.

“He was a classic story of a Midwest boy seeking fame and fortune in New York,” Mr. Waisbren said. “He had his whole life ahead of him.”

The chief executive of CB Insights, Anand Sanwal, said that the company was “shocked and stunned” by his death. “Sam was a great friend to many at CB Insights, and his wit, humor and intellect will be missed,” Mr. Sanwal said in a statement.

The Manhattan Promenade, a building with 183 apartments at 344 Third Avenue, has two elevators for tenants. In May, the city’s Department of Buildings fined the building nearly $1,300 after inspectors found that a safety feature on one of the elevators had been disabled or tampered with.

The building was ordered on May 29 to stop using that elevator until it was fixed. City inspectors approved a repair on it on May 31 and allowed it operate again. But the violation remained open as of Thursday because the landlord had not paid the fine.

Tenants said on Thursday that they had not been told about the faulty elevator and that it was not operating on Wednesday, when it was shut down and roped off with yellow cones after a resident got stuck in it.

ATA Enterprises, which manages the building, did not respond to a voice mail message seeking comment. A nearby apartment building operated by same company, at 220 East 25th Street, has also received citations for unsafe elevator conditions, including for uneven doors.