Two Window Washers Rescued In Manhattan

Window Washers Rescued from Scaffold Stuck 21 Floors Up Federal Building in their gondola outside the 21st floor of 290 Broadway in lower Manhattan.

Window washers left dangling 21 stories up on high-rise: 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. “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 every window-washing scaffold that regulates the level so the scaffold isn’t affected by wind or other factors,” said Fire Chief Dan Donahue. “Once that mercury switch breaks, the whole thing goes into safety mode and basically shuts down.” Both window washers refused medical treatment, according to authorities.

Firefighters secured the contract workers using ropes and cut through a 21st story window.

Window Washers Rescued From Scaffold Stuck 21 Floors Up Federal Building (CIVIC CENTER): Firefighters cut through windows to rescue two men trapped on a scaffold hanging from the 21st floor of a lower Manhattan building, officials said. The window washers were stuck far above Reade Street, alongside the Ted Weiss Federal Building at 290 Broadway, when the scaffold appeared to suffer a mechanical failure about 1 p.m., the FDNY said. "Two employees were indeed out on a scaffold and they were unable to move the scaffold up or down. Basically, they were stuck," FDNY Deputy Chief Dan Donoghue said at the scene.

Firefighters secured the contract workers using ropes and cut through a 21st story window. ''We used a glass cutter," Donoghue said. "We had two panes of glass. We cut one pane, we cut the other pane.'' The workers were not injured, he said. ''They were fine. They were just stuck." The scaffolding was tested Monday morning before the mishap and has no history of malfunction, a spokeswoman for the General Services Administration, which manages the federal building, said. "It has been taken out of service and is currently being evaluated to determine what caused today’s problem and what corrective action is necessary," Renee Miscione said.

The building houses offices for the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Internal Revenue Service and the Environmental Protection Agency, among others. Elizabeth Nembhard, 24, watched the FDNY save the workers. "The firefighters cut the window and pulled the scaffolding closer to let them in," she said. "The workers walked really slowly and then just disappeared. It was really suspenseful. I started praying to God.''