NYC Window Washer Plummets To His Death

Officers at the scene where a window washer fell to his death at 115 E. 81st Street. Police say the 57-year-old man fell at about 11:40 a.m. Monday while cleaning a third floor window on East 81st Street.

Window washer plummets to his death on the job: A window washer fell to his death from an Upper East Side town house Monday afternoon, police said. Paul Benalcazar, 57, was working at 115 E. 81st St. at around noon when he fell from the second floor, police sources said.

“He and his wife have a company washing windows,” said Ed Stern, the building’s owner for more than 20 years. “I have a home office. I heard a commotion and I followed it up. [Witnesses] were saying, ‘He’s dead. He’s dead.’ “It’s just a tragic accident and very upsetting,” said Stern, who says he called 911. “It shows you how precious life is.”

The man was washing a window at a townhouse on East 81st Street near Lexington Avenue at about 11:45 a.m. when he the incident happened.