A pair of window washers were trapped on their rig more than 60 stories up outside a high-rise hotel in midtown Manhattan for more than an hour Tuesday afternoon, fire officials said.
The washers were working outside Marriott's Courtyard New York Manhattan/Times Square hotel at Broadway and West 54th Street when they became stuck outside the 65th floor at about 1:30 p.m, officials said.
Firefighters were called to the scene and they were able to secure the workers with a rope. They then pulled them to safety at about 2:30 p.m.
Video from the scene showed firefighters creating a hole in the window near the scaffolding. Several other firefighters could be seen on the roof of the skyscraper, and they were able to use ropes to pull the rig toward the window. The two workers were then pulled inside.
Louis Merced, a scaffoldng mechanic who helped firefighters with the rescue described the demeanor of the window washers after the harrowing ordeal.
"They came off the rig laughing, joking," Merced said. "To them it's not that serious either. They were not hurt."
Merced, who works for the company that manages the scaffolding, said that the men weren't in any real danger and that he had the scaffolding working agin before firefighters cut out the window.
Local
An electical issue was blamed for causing the scaffolding to get stuck.
Several streets around the building were cordoned off as crews worked.
