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WTC window washers rescued after being trapped 69 floors up

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Chad Rachman
Chad Rachman
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A scaffold carrying two workers hangs 69 floors up at One World Trade Center on November 12, 2014 in New York City.
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A woman looks out from her car at the dangling scaffold.
A woman looks out from her car at the dangling scaffold. Getty Images
People look up at a scaffold carrying two workers hanging 69 floors up at One World Trade Center
People look up at a scaffold carrying two workers hanging 69 floors up at One World Trade Center.Getty Images
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Onlookers take cellphone pictures of stranded window washers
Onlookers take cellphone pictures of stranded window washers.Getty Images
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Two terrified window-washers who clung for an hour and a half to a dangling scaffold outside the 69th floor of the World Trade Center on Wednesday were rescued through a hole broken through one of the building’s thick windows.

Rescuers plucked sky-high workers Juan Lizama and Juan Lopez from their precarious perch about 2:15 p.m.

“They’re pretty shaken up by it,” said Rachel Cohen, a spokeswoman for Local 32BJ of the SEIU, the workers’ union. “We’re looking to make sure they’re OK. If they need medical attention, they’ll be getting it.”

The dramatic ending capped a nerve-wracking rescue effort after a cable to the scaffold apparently broke around 12:45 p.m., said Joe Pentangelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the downtown Manhattan building.

Members of the FDNY and the NYPD’s elite Emergency Services Unit responded to the scene, where the scaffolding hung nearly completely vertically against the south side of the 1,776-foot glass skyscraper — with the two men on it.

Mike Segrave, 54, a metal foreman who frequently goes up on scaffolds, said such workers wear harnesses that are connected to the roof by a clasp.

“They’re not going to go anywhere, but you don’t want to be hanging by your harness. You can only hang for so long. Within an hour all the blood rushes out. It’s definitely not good,” he said.

“They are sitting at a 90-degree angle, and all their blood is rushing to their feet. People pass out. They may not even be awake – it’s crazy.”

Lizama has 14 years of experience and Lopez five, Cohen said.

Ramone Castro, 59, a 30-year window cleaner, said he hoped the two workers remained calm.

“I’ve been in a situation like this before but not so high,” he said “Don’t panic. That is the worst thing you can do. It is a very dangerous job. It is not easy going up there. … You can replace a machine but not a life.”

New York Post/Chad Rachman
The FDNY tweeted a photograph of rescuers in the building looking at the scaffold with the men on it.

Firefighters remove glass from the World Trade Center during the rescue.FDNY

“It’s like a movie. You do not see something like this, especially not from the World Trade Center,” said Edwin Marrero, 27, a UPS supervisor who witnessed the drama.

The door-sized hole used by firefighters to pull in the two window washers.FDNY

“So much tragedy happened here. For something else to happen here is crazy. You just don’t get to see something like this, from a famous building. I really hope they’re OK.”

A 911 caller first reported that the scaffolding had tipped and that workers may be stuck, clinging to the platform and holding on for their lives, sources said.

Vesey and West streets were closed, and firefighters secured the area to prevent people from viewing the north side of the reflecting pool as rescue efforts were under way. People were moved farther away during the operation.

About 175 Conde Nast employees moved into the 104-floor, $3.9 billion tower last week. About 3,000 more are expected to move in by early next year.

Near the tower are two memorial fountains built on the footprints of the twin towers felled in the terror attacks of 9/11.

While the rescue efforts were going on, another incident involving a scaffold occurred at 240 W. 98th St. and Broadway, where a worker fell from a platform on the fourth floor, witnesses said.

A worker at the Westside Market told The Post that the man “was awake and may have had a couple of broken ribs.”

Shawn Cohen, Philip Messing, Dana Sauchelli and Kevin Fasick contributed to this report