Get me the mayor! Now!
A garrulous granny got the surprise of her life yesterday — a visit from cops after she threatened to show up at Mayor Bloomberg’s Upper East Side townhouse to tell him personally about a slew of repairs that needed to be made at her Queens apartment.
Margaret Ionescu, 82, a Romanian immigrant, was furious about a broken door, a water-stained ceiling and a host of other problems at the Astoria apartment where she’s lived for the past 34 years, and demanded a helping hand from the top.
“I wanted to say to Mayor Bloomberg, ‘Get to work to help me!’ ” she told The Post last night from her fourth-floor home on 29th Street.
So the exasperated mother of two, who lives alone and uses a walker, tried to get a hand through the city’s 311 help line.
“I called 311 because this was a dangerous situation,” the spritely senior said.
“I’m just an old woman trying to get help.”
But an astonishing 23 calls later, the widow, who speaks broken English, still couldn’t get relief.
“They kept hanging up on me and telling me they didn’t understand,” said Ionescu, who suffers from heart trouble and was recently released from a hospital.
“I tell them I need to see Bloomberg; I need to see police.”
But sources said that when operators tried to explain that she couldn’t see the mayor, she threatened to march to his doorstep.
Ionescu’s gusto earned her a visit from two detectives from the NYPD’s Public Security Unit.
The sight of the officers sent chills up her spine.
“I am from Romania,” she said. “The cops there were very bad.
“I was scared when the cops came to my door. I didn’t want to be taken away. I did nothing wrong.”
But after a quick chat, the officers found that the plucky, 5-foot-tall octogenarian was more bark than bite.
“The cops say I want to hurt mayor,” she said.
“No, I say, I want help from the mayor.”
Not only did the officers not haul her off in cuffs, they left their phone number and said they would make sure the work was done.
But Ionescu isn’t convinced the offer was for real.
“Maybe they’ll help,” she said. “I don’t deserve this. The police should help me.”
Police spokesman Paul Browne refused to discuss the incident.