"When I put down the car carrier he'll leap into it," she said.
Early in the ride, Mr. Washington rolled down the car windows to allow the hot Texas air to rush in.
Upright, the back-to-back seats can carry four passengers, but when folded down, the car is ready to cart bulky items from shopping trips.
When the excitement died down, the car hung motionless in the air, idle but more or less ready for its inaugural ride, and a new era.
Baldwin talked of stores that had closed down, the car mechanic who abandoned him, the houses he should have bought but did not: "I almost bought that house right there".
Besides cracking down on littering — not an easy feat in a country where rolling down the car window and tossing out a piece of trash remains a reflex — the company requires residents to sort garbage into recyclables.
If a car is stolen, he receives an e-mail and a telephone call, allowing him to lock the doors, set off the horn and shut down the car from his phone, leaving the car thief trapped if not perplexed.
But the mayor's reaction to the hot-car experience was also a textbook case of how New York City Transit officials say riders should respond: take down the car number and call it in.
The app isn't available right this instant, so you can put down the car keys and untie your shoes, but it will be out in late March.
Fire crews have since cut down the car, and police have launched a criminal investigation into who is responsible.
From The Hangover to Casino: The trunk goes up, the body comes out, the trunk goes down, the car drives away.
