New York City firefighters had to rescue Housing and Urban Development official Lynne Patton from a broken down elevator at a public housing project in Manhattan.
You can't make this stuff up.
Lynne Patton, the New York and New Jersey regional director of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, got trapped in an elevator at a public housing project on Tuesday, and needed to be rescued from the car by the New York City Fire Department.
Patton has been living in NYC Housing Authority properties — which receive funding from HUD — since Feb. 11, part of a monthlong stay in public housing projects to get a feel for how the properties were being maintained.
"My God, this is amazing and so messed up at the same time," a reporter can be heard saying as cameras rolled and captured Patton's ill-fated ride on the elevator, according to the New York Daily News.
NYCHA has come under fire for not providing adequate living conditions for residents, with rat infestations and heating problems plaguing those who live there.
The New York Post reported that NYCHA staffers rushed to clean up the housing units Patton was slated to stay in before her arrival, possibly an attempt to make the housing more comfortable for Patton, who lives long-term in Trump Tower.
Patton has come under fire for being woefully unqualified for her job overseeing billions in federal housing subsidies.
Before being appointed to her well-paid government job, Patton was an event planner for the Trump family, and helped run first son Eric Trump's foundation, which — like many things in Trump's orbit — is being investigated for alleged self-dealing.
And NYCHA residents, who have endured poor conditions for years, don't think Patton and her PR stunt can save them.
"Who the hell is Lynne Patton?” Carline Campbell, a resident of one of the housing projects Patton is slated to stay in, told the NYDN ahead of Patton's stunt. "Anything from Trump I don't trust. I don't think she wants to help."
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
