Virginia Fields would have seen New Yorkers being arrested in front of Police Plaza from her 19th floor Borough President's office in the aftermath of the Diallo shooting ... but she never found the elevator.

Instead, she issued a press release stating that while she was appropriately sad and outraged, the shooting was not the fault of Mayor Giuliani or the Police Commissioner and she was not casting blame.

As this entire issue revolves around nuances of finger-pointing, her campaign has benefitted to what Freddy Ferrer did (or didn't) say a few weeks ago. While Mr. Ferrer was getting arrested, Fields looked on. Click below for images of her 1999 press release or get the PDF file here.