Overview of rear of building where the scaffold is seen at approx the 41st floor. Rescue of scaffold workers near 41st floor, 6th ave. & 46st. At rear of building, facing west. (Robert Miller)
Two window washers who got stuck on a scaffolding today outside of the 42nd floor of a Midtown Manhattan building were rescued.
The men were taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, according to a fire department official.
One of the two motors on the scaffold, which move it up and down, failed, the source added, leaving the men stranded this morning.
The scaffolding was then hanging at a 45-degree angle to 1177 6th Ave., according to the Fire Department.
Roughly an hour after the incident was reported, the window washers were brought in through one of the building’s windows, a fire department source said.
The fire department cut through two panes of glass and extended a rope to the men. They also cut power to the scaffolding and secured the window washers.
One firefighter also talked to the men, trying to calm them down.
One of the workers, who’s believed to be in his 60s, has hypertension and was placed onto a stretcher and loaded into an ambulence after he was rescued.
He was very scared, the FDNY said, telling firefighters that this was the third time something like this had happened to him.
Neither of the workers suffered any physical injuries, the Fire Department said.
Ken Milone, the chief engineer at a nearby building said, “I came out and I saw all the fire trucks and heard all the sirens.
“I looked up. I saw the scaffold dangling, and I knew there was trouble. This is the first time I’ve ever seen something like that,” he added.
Onlooked watched in horror as the men were brought to safety.
Another man, Louis, who was working on the 47th floor and refused to give his last name, said, “[One] guy was hooked off the scaffold. I hoped he wouldn’t go.”