The city finally promised a new apartment to a Brooklyn family whose NYCHA ceiling collapsed — but only after the mom confronted Mayor de Blasio in person about their ordeal.
Hizzoner and Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen met privately with Tricia Jeter after The Post introduced her during a news conference in Crown Heights, where the mayor was touting his affordable-housing initiatives.
De Blasio apologized “several times” during the 15-minute sit-down, according to Jeter, whose family was forced out of their three-bedroom apartment in the Weeksville Gardens complex when the ceiling caved in on her eldest son and his girlfriend at around 2 a.m. Sunday.
Jeter says Glen promised to personally show her prospective apartments Tuesday afternoon, but by nightfall, nobody had shown up as she stood outside her building with her belongings in trash bags and suitcases.
The family then called City Hall and were told they would have to wait until later this week for any tour. But they did get some good news when they returned to their new temporary housing — and found furniture.
A seven-person moving crew — three to carry the boxes and four installers — arrived with Ikea furniture at about 9 p.m. Tuesday.
NYCHA had crammed Tricia and Daniel Jeter and their four kids into the two-bedroom unit with a leaky toilet before it had any furniture, leaving them to sleep on the floor until Tricia bought some air mattresses on Monday.
During the meeting with de Blasio, “he apologized for what my family went through,” Tricia, 43, said. “He apologized for what NYCHA didn’t do. He apologized that they threw us in an apartment with no beds. He apologized for himself.”
Team de Blasio’s initial willingness to blame past administrations and NYCHA for the family’s ordeal on Sunday contrasted with his staunch defense of agency boss Shola Olatoye following a Department of Investigation report in November that revealed she had falsely certified inspections for lead hazards in 55,000 apartments.
Since then, the embattled agency has also come under fire for boiler failures that left thousands of residents struggling to stay warm during recent cold snaps.
The Jeters blamed Sunday’s ceiling collapse on overhead water leaks that NYCHA had repeatedly ignored since January 2017.
Tricia said de Blasio “looked like he was shocked” when she showed him photos and video of the ceiling cave-in.
“I explained how my husband had to lift fiberglass and Sheetrock that had fallen on my son and his girlfriend, and he just looked at me like, ‘Wow,’ ” the mother recalled. “I said, ‘I’m afraid to move back into that apartment,’ and he said, ‘I totally understand.’ ”
Glen also “told me she would take me around this afternoon and show me a couple of [larger] apartments in Brooklyn” from which the family could pick a new home, Tricia said.
Hours later, and before the welcome delivery of furniture, Tricia and daughter Nel, 17, were eagerly waiting outside Weeksville Gardens, but when Glen hadn’t shown up by 5:30 p.m., Tricia phoned for an explanation.
About 15 minutes later, a bureaucrat called back and claimed there had been a “misunderstanding.”
Mayoral spokesman Wiley Norvell told The Post, “It was something for this week, not today” — even though another spokeswoman earlier said de Blasio had “directed NYCHA to work immediately with the Jeter family to secure them a permanent apartment.”
Tricia said she was sure Glen told her there wouldn’t be a wait.
“At least give me a call,” she fumed. “I could have been inside, where it’s warm. Instead, I stood here and I waited. I stood here and I waited.”
Meanwhile, Daniel Jeter, 43, and son Delijah, 20, had to seek treatment at Interfaith Medical Center when they suffered asthma attacks while collecting stuff from inside their trashed apartment.
“After seeing all the mold on the beams in the ceiling, I don’t know what else we’ve been breathing in,” Daniel told The Post before heading to the hospital.
Daniel said his entire family has suffered from asthma that inexplicably had worsened over the past year.
“Now I know why,” he said. “The apartment is to blame. I saw what was up there. All that mold was making my family sick. NYCHA could have prevented all of this.
“They would come in and patch up the ceiling but they didn’t fix the real problem,” Daniel added.
NYCHA did not respond to a request for comment, but in a written statement, a City Hall spokeswoman said, “What the Jeter family has gone through is unacceptable.”
Additional reporting by Alex Taylor