What to Know
- Two window washers were rescued following a scaffolding incident in Midtown, according to the FDNY
- The incident took place on East 48th Street at the back of the building around the height of the 30th floor.
- Video and photos WNBC obtained from witnesses at the scene show the scaffolding incredibly tilted -- almost to the point of it being vertical.
Two window washers were rescued following a scaffolding incident in Midtown, according to the FDNY.
The incident took place on East 48th Street at the back of the building around the 30th floor. Ambulances and firetrucks blocked vehicles from driving through 47th Street, which is the front of the building.
Video and photos WNBC obtained from witnesses at the scene show the scaffolding incredibly tilted -- almost to the point of it being vertical.
In a video taken by a witness to the astonishing sight unfolding high-up on the outside of a Midtown high-rise, one can hear the desperate pleas for help as people on the ground were heard calling 911.
The scaffolding had taken a nose dive from its original position and one worker was not close enough to a window to get back into the building.
Eye-witnesses who were across the street said multiple people called 911 while a construction worker screamed for help for about half a minute.
News
Barb Stoj was in a building across the street on the fourth floor and said she could hear the construction worker screaming.
“It scared me, because we were scared that the whole thing was going to come all the way down and hit the other building.” Stoj said.
Mike LeRoy, from Astoria, Queens, said the construction worker must have realized he was harnessed in because he eventually stopped screaming while he waited for help.
“I was nervous for him, I almost wanted to run around the block and go to the construction site,” LeRoy said. “It was just a matter of time before they straightened out the scaffolding and everybody was okay.”
It's unclear what caused the scaffolding incident.
