HUD administrator Lynne Patton got stuck in an elevator at Manhattan’s Frederick Douglass Houses Tuesday morning after someone in the packed car she was in accidentally hit the emergency alarm button.
Patton, after being freed by the FDNY, later told The Post the experience was no big deal.
“Look, we got stuck in the elevator coming from a resident’s apartment. It’s something that’s not unfamiliar with NYCHA,” she said.
“Employees have been stuck in NYCHA elevators many many times. This particular elevator is new. I do believe we overloaded it. So I am not going to blame” NYCHA, she said.
“Fortunately for us New York’s Bravest came very quickly. But that’s not the case for your average citizen.”
NY1 posted video of the FDNY working to free Patton — an event planner for the Trump family appointed to the federal gig by President Trump — who was stuck in the crowded lift for about 15 minutes.
Earlier this week, NYCHA staffers raced to polish the floors and pick up trash at the housing complex just hours before Patton began her weeklong stay at the Upper West Side project.
This is Patton’s second week staying in a city public housing development. She spent last week at the Patterson Houses in The Bronx.
Mayor de Blasio delivered a lengthy response when asked about the incident, touting his own efforts to fix up the dilapidated projects.
“We have a very aggressive plan that we announced a few weeks ago that I think will bring in the billions of billions of dollars we need to fix these elevators,” he said before accusing the state and federal governments of not forking over enough cash to help manage the complexes.