Window Cleaning Super Heroes

Dressed as Spider-Man, Danny Oszaniec, a window washer with American National Skyline, prepares to repel down the outside of Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, surprising patients and their families through the windows as he works his way down. Click to super-size.

Comic book heroes lift spirits, fight grime at Children’s Hospital: The patients at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh were barely awake Monday morning when the first ropes unfurled from the roof 12 floors up. But when window washers clad as superheroes rappelled down the brick facades along Penn Avenue and 45th Street in Lawrenceville, little eyes were wide open.

Caleb Whitaker, 6, of Windber waves to window-washer Rick Boloinger dressed as Spider-Man on Monday morning, Oct. 22, 2012, as Boloinger and a crew of costumed washers from Allegheny Window Cleaning Inc. descended upon Children's Hospital in Lawrenceville. Click to enlarge.

Caleb Whitaker, 6, of Windber raced through a third-floor clinic — and catapulted himself over pint-sized furniture — to ogle Spider-Man, Batman, and Superman as they sprayed and wiped clean the glass panes. Captain America rounded out the comic-book foursome, assembled at no charge, thanks to Allegheny Window Cleaning Inc. of Springdale. “We heard people yelling: ‘It’s Spider-Man!’ When the other ones appeared, it was just kind of amazing,” said Joe Hartnett, 42, of Castle Shannon. His rapt daughter Leah, 6, who accompanied her younger brother, “didn’t quite believe it” at first.

Caleb Whitaker, 6, of Windber gives a high-five to window-washer Ed Hetrick dressed as Superman on Monday morning, Oct. 22, 2012, as Hetrick and a crew of costumed washers from Allegheny Window Cleaning Inc. descended upon Children's Hospital in Lawrenceville. Click to enlarge.

 “It’s a wonderful surprise,” said Hartnett, who joined dozens of gawkers inside and outside the hospital. Many posed for photos with the costumed heroes at ground level. Allegheny Window President Edward Matuizek said the company wanted only to brighten the day for children battling illnesses. Matuizek said the washers improvised to position their safety harnesses around the costumes. “This isn’t about us. This is about them,” said Matuizek, a father of two teenage daughters. “It’s a nice place to work, but emotionally it’s a real tough place to work. You go home and pick your own kids up, and there’s a lot of gratitude there.”

Kids in the ninth-floor waiting area including Caleb Whitaker, 6 of Windber (center) watch window-washer Jim Zaremba dressed as Batman on Monday morning, Oct. 22, 2012, as Zaremba and a crew of super-clad washers from Allegheny Window Cleaning Inc. descended upon Children's Hospital in Lawrenceville. Click to enlarge.

A similar superhero appearance at a British hospital inspired Matuizek’s plan. Allegheny Window Cleaning has washed the windows at the 296-bed UPMC facility since the hospital opened about three years ago, Matuizek said. The firm’s office manager Michelle Matuizek — Edward’s wife — first suggested the costume idea. His initial reaction: “You’re crazy. I’m not doing this.” But Children’s Hospital facilities director Elizabeth Munsch helped nudge the plan along, officials said. Allegheny lined up $800 worth of Broadway-quality costume rentals and four experienced window-washers to wear them for about two hours.

Window-washers from left, Jim Zaremba (Batman), John Morton (Captain America), Rick Boloinger (Spider-Man) and Ed Hetrick (Superman) stand on the helipad atop Children's Hospital on Monday morning, Oct. 22, 2012, before the crew of super-clad washers from Allegheny Window Cleaning Inc. rid the windows of the Lawrenceville hospital of grime. Click to enlarge.

The washers are Rick Bollinger, 46, and Mark Errico, 26, both of Harrison; Ed Hetrick, 36, of Springdale; and Jim Zaremba, 43, of Lower Burrell. “The kids were loving it,” said Errico, suited up as Captain America. “Everywhere we went, they were coming in from different rooms.” He would do it again in a heartbeat, he said. And he might get the chance: Edward Matuizek said the company is looking to make the appearance an annual gig. “On a nice day like this, those kids are locked up in there for — who knows? — months,” Errico said.

Window-washers from top, Rick Boloinger (Spider-Man), Mark Errico (Captain America), Jim Zaremba (Batman) and Ed Hetrick (Superman) rappel down the side of Children's Hospital on Monday morning, Oct. 22, 2012, as the crew of washers from Allegheny Window Cleaning Inc. rid the windows of the Lawrenceville hospital of grime. Click to enlarge.

Quinlan Carney, 4, could get on board with a return engagement. He isn’t a patient, but he locked his eyes on Spider-Man as he gripped his mother’s hand along 45th Street. “He’s going to talk about this forever,” said his mother, Julia Carney, 37, of Harmony.

Spider-Man, suited up and headed down the side of Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis. Click to enlarge.

Spider-Man window washers cheer hospitalized kids: Kids at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis got a Spidey-size surprise last week when they spotted none other than Spider-Man rappelling down the side of the building, with Captain America in hot pursuit. The superhero sighting came courtesy of a few real-life superheroes -- employees of the commercial window cleaning company American National Skyline who wanted to do something nice for the young patients. Rosetta Ford, an administrative assistant in the hospital's environmental-services department, suggested costumes, so Steve Oszaniec, his son Danny Oszaniec, and Jordan Emerson suited up superhero-style, secured themselves in their window-washing safety harnesses, and started their slide down the 12-story building.

 "A great day for window cleaning"

The building's large windows overlook the downtown Memphis skyline and Mississippi River, giving the superheroes a scenic backdrop. As word got around the hospital of an out-of-the-ordinary happening, the kids flocked to windows in their rooms and the family rooms on each floor. As you can see from this vid provided by the hospital, many patients captured the moment with smartphones (a good idea, since last time I told people I saw Spider-Man scaling a building on a Wednesday afternoon, they didn't believe me). And for a real awww, have a look at this closeup NBC News photo of a Le Bonheur patient-Spidey moment. It really says it all.

Some Memphis residents probably looked up and wondered why own their window washers suddenly seemed so ordinary. Click to enlarge.

Window-washers from left, Mark Errico (Captain America), Jim Zaremba (Batman), Ed Hetrick (Superman) and Rick Boloinger (Spider-Man) rappel down Children's Hospital on Monday morning, Oct. 22, 2012, as the crew of super-clad washers from Allegheny Window Cleaning Inc. rid the windows of the Lawrenceville hospital of grime. Click to enlarge.