Person Stuck In UES Elevator For 3 Days, FDNY Says

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A person rescued from an Upper East Side elevator Monday morning told firefighters they'd been stuck all weekend long, an FDNY spokesman said.

Firefighters rushed to a townhouse at 48 E. 65th St., between Park and Madison avenues, shortly after 10 a.m. after getting a report of a stuck elevator, an FDNY spokesman said. When they forced its doors open, they found somebody stuck inside.

That person reported they'd been stuck in the elevator since Friday, according to the FDNY.

Emergency responders rushed the person, whose gender and condition were not immediately released, to an area hospital, the FDNY said.

ABC News reported the woman was a cleaning worker and that firefighters found no one else inside the private townhouse. The New York Post identified the woman as 53-year-old Marites Fortaliza, but officials could not confirm the woman's identity.

A Department of Buildings inspector arrived at the East 65th Street home Monday morning but was unable to get inside. The inspector told reporters that because a person was trapped inside the elevator it must be inspected. Because the inspector had not seen the elevator, he declined to speculate on whether a violation will be assessed to the building.

The elevator received violations during 2008 and 1996 inspections but not when it was last inspected in July, Department of Buildings records show.

The single-family townhouse was bought by billionaire Warren Stephens in 1999, according to city records and The Observer.

Photo by Brendan Krisel