Two window cleaners had to be rescued by New York emergency fire-fighters yesterday after their scaffolding collapsed around 14:00 New York time, leaving them dangling in the air 44 stories up the Hearst Building for almost 2 hours.
Written by Chris White
According to eye witnesses the two cleaners were standing at either end of the scaffold when the platform they were standing on buckled and then gave way leaving them dangling by their safety-harnesses until first responders arrived to pull the hapless pair to safety, at around 16:20.
The responders consisted of 60 fire-fighters from the New York Fire Department who removed the glass windows facing the cleaners in order to extract them from the scene. The Assistant Chief of New York’s fire department William Seelig said that the two individuals concerned had not sustained any injuries or medical conditions due to the incident.
The Hearst Building is the international head quarters of the Hearst Corporation which publishes magazines worldwide. The Hearst Building is located on 57th Street and was the first high-rise building to be approved for construction since September 11th 2001. It is characterized by its uniquely strange and exotic window layout, where window panes are fitted at perpendicular angles.
According to an article in The New Yorker, the first question the building’s owners asked the building’s architect Norman Foster, was “how are you going to clean those windows?”
The exact cause of the platform’s collapse has yet to be determined.
DailySun Reader Tips: Businesses using old antiquated technology are finding themselves on a losing battle with up and coming solutions. Take a look here at cc merchant and their new cloud based technology and see how they can grow your business.
