WATCH: Window Washers Rescued from NYC High-Rise
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File photo. iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Two window washers spent a terrifying hour suspended 42 stories above the streets of Manhattan Wednesday before firefighters could pull them to safety.
The two workers, who were not identified by fire officials, were cleaning windows on the 42nd floor of a building at Sixth Avenue and 46th Street in Midtown when their scaffolding stopped working, according to New York ABC affiliate WABC.
When emergency crews responded, they found the two men hanging on for dear life as their scaffolding dangled at a 45-degree angle, according to Fire Department officials.
Firefighters reached the men through an office window and kept talking to them to calm their nerves as they worked to create an opening to reach them.
Nearly one hour later, after using special diamond grinders to cut through two panes of glass, firefighters pulled the men one at a time through the window to safety.
One of the men, described as in his 60s, was placed on a stretcher immediately following the rescue. Both were transported to the nearby Bellevue Hospital as a precaution but released with no major injuries.
For one of the men this was the third time he found himself stuck high above the city streets while doing his job.
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