Two NYC window washers survive horror plunge after scaffolding malfunction halfway up 101-story Hudson Yards' The Edge building sending them plummeting 13 stories to a platform below before being flung a further two stories on to a roof
Two window washers were injured in New York City on Saturday morning after a scaffolding malfunction caused the platform they were standing on to plummet 13 floors down the side of a 101-story Hudson Yards skyscraper.
The two men – one in his 20s and the in his 30s – were washing windows on the 50th floor of 30 Hudson Yards at around 11am when the scaffolding failed and they began to make a 'controlled descent' down the side of the building.
Authorities said that the platform they were standing on came to a sudden stop at the 37th floor of the building at West 33rd Street and 10th Ave.
The abrupt stop flung the men from the platform, however, and they fell a further 20ft onto the roof of the building's 35th floor.
A window washer is taken by stretcher from 30 Hudson Yards after the platform he was working on plunged 13 floors down the side of the 101-story skyscraper
The two men were washing windows on the 50th floor when the scaffold fell to the 37th. It stopped with a jolt throwing the men onto the roof of the 35th floor
The men's fall was broken by a wooden shed but one is still said to be in a serious but stable condition. The other has minor injuries. Pictured, one of the men on a stretcher
'Upon arrival units found a scaffolding with two window washers on it had fallen 20 feet to a lower level and was sitting on a structure on the roof of the 35th floor,' the FDNY said.
Their fall to the roof was broken by a wooden storage shed, according to the New York Post.
'It looks like a 20-foot drop,' a fire department spokesperson said. 'That would be two stories. That's substantial. Storage shed, I think it was a storage shed, broke their fall.'
Firefighters were initially unable to reach the men because of the height of the building and had no time to wait for a ladder so they cut a hole in a window on the 35th floor to bring them to safety.
The 1,296-foot office Hudson Yards building is NyC's fourth-tallest skyscraper and includes the recently opened viewing deck known as 'The Edge' that juts out from the 101st floor
The two men were conscious as they were rescued. Pictured, one of the men in a ambulance
The men were both conscious and were immediately taken to Bellevue hospital.
Authorities said one man was 'pretty banged up' and in a serious but stable condition. The second man suffered minor injuries.
'Sounds like they're going to be alright,' the fire official said.
A food cart worker who works outside the building told New York Daily News that the area was closed for two hours as the men were rescued.
'There were fire engines and cops all over,' said Mohamed Gomaa, 40.
The reason for the platform malfunction is still being investigated. It was suspended from a crane erected over the building when the fall happened.
The 1,296-foot office Hudson Yards building is New York's fourth-tallest skyscraper and includes the recently opened viewing deck known as 'The Edge' that juts out from the 101st floor.
At 1,100 ft high, it is the second highest outdoor observation deck in the western hemisphere after Toronto's CN Tower.
The window washers' fall comes a year after a scaffold collapse at 50 Hudson Yards on November 11, 2019, left four workers with minor injuries.
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