MIDDLETOWN, NJ A relative of the Hovnanian homebuilding empire’s founder was stuck in an elevator shaft in her mansion for about 171/2 hours until emergency crews were able to rescue her, police said. Middletown police received a call at 1:10 p.m. last Thursday that Paris Hovnanian, the sister-in-law of Hovnanian Enterprises founder K. Hovnanian, had apparently fallen one story down an elevator shaft, hitting the elevator car at the bottom before becoming trapped between the car and the shaft wall. K. Hovnanian is the company behind the hotly contested Eagle Ridge Development in West Milford. A caretaker on the estate found the woman after hearing her calls for help, said police Lt. Michael Mehler. Hovnanian had been in the shaft since about 10 p.m. the night before. She suffered a broken arm and possibly a dislocated hip, according to Patrolman Darrin Simon, and was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune. Simon said the elevator was a walk-in elevator with an entrance that resembled a closet door, and that Hovnanian seems to have walked through the door without realizing the actual elevator car was one floor below. Paris Hovnanian’s husband Vahak started his own homebuilding company Freehold-based V.S. Hovnanian Group _ in 1969, according to a Hovnanian Enterprises spokesman. Paris Hovnanian is a co-founder of the New York Academy of Art and is well known for her work on behalf of charitable organizations.