42nd Floor Drama Of New York Cleaners Left In The Lurch

Steven Kind and Rene Perez are rescued by firefighters.

High drama of New York cleaners left in the lurch 42 storeys up: The window cleaners were dangling 500ft above West 45th Street when the gantry holding them lurched and tilted like a pinball flipper. Soon it was listing at an angle of 45 degrees.

The windows they were cleaning did not open: they were marooned on the face of a 700ft skyscraper, 42 storeys above midtown Manhattan. Steven Kind and Rene Perez hung there for 30 minutes and a crowd gathered below.

Firemen with diamond-tipped blades and suction cups cut two holes in the thick glass, threw a rope to the cleaners and hauled them into the building.