Two Window Washers Rescued in Times Square

Two window washers were trapped outside the 30th floor of a Times Square building for almost two hours yesterday morning, when the scaffolding basket they were in stalled.

The police said that at 8:34 a.m. yesterday, they received a 911 call from two men at 3 Times Square, at Seventh Avenue between West 42nd and 43rd streets, who said that they were unable to move the scaffolding basket they were in up or down.

The police sealed off the street on Seventh Avenue between 42nd and 43rd streets. Speaking at the scene, Officer Martin Brown, of the Police Department's Public Information office, said that the two men were rescued when the police removed an adjacent window, and brought the men into safety. Neither man was hurt.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Buildings, Kate Lindquist, said that department inspectors arrived at the scene and issued a violation to the window cleaning company, Collins Building Services, "for failing to provide adequate safety lines." A spokeswoman for that company told the New York Sun, "right now, we aren't answering any questions."

A building close by at 1 Times Square was where a pane of glass fell more than 40 floors onto scaffolding on August 16. No one was hurt in the incident.