Two window-washers were left trapped 21 stories up after their scaffolding got stuck outside a high-rise federal building in Lower Manhattan on Monday, authorities said.
The two workers were washing windows at the 32-story Ted Weiss Federal Building at 290 Broadway just after 1 p.m. when they ran into trouble, officials said.
“The scaffold wasn’t budging, and these guys were really high up there,” a fire-department source said. “We had to drop ropes down to them to secure the scaffold in the event that it gave way.”
Firefighters wound up having to use a glass-cutter to remove two windowpanes on the 21st floor so that they could pull the workers inside the building and back to safety according to FDNY Chief Dan Donoghue.
“The scaffold was swinging back and forth as they stepped off it. It would have been a long way down if they fell,” said witness Chioma Onyekwere, 25, who works across the street.
“I definitely panicked a little when I saw the guys trying to sneak through the hole they cut in the window.
Authorities say the men were trapped on the malfunctioning scaffold for nearly 40 minutes.
“There’s a mercury switch on the window-washer’s rig,” said a rescue worker who didn’t to give his name. When it’s working, it keeps the platform level as it goes up and down the building, even in windy conditions. Once the switch goes bad, the rig shuts down.”
Both window washers refused medical treatment, according to authorities.