HIGH ANXIETY: Rescue workers harness a dangling scaffold yesterday. (AP)
GLASS ACT: A maintenance worker stuck on the scaffold yesterday steps through an opening cut from the window near the top of the Hearst Tower. (
)
Two maintenance workers were left dangling 44 floors above a Midtown street for more than an hour yesterday after their scaffold partially collapsed.
FDNY rescuers delicately secured the men near the roof of the Hearst Tower at 300 W. 57th St., where they got stuck just before 3 p.m.
The workers’ rig folded into a V-shape. The piece of equipment is designed to collapse — just not 600 feet above the ground.
Firefighters and Emergency Service Unit cops knocked out windows on the 44th floor and attached harnesses to the workers, Steve Schmidt, 49, of Brooklyn and Victor Caraballo, 28, of The Bronx.
“I’m a little shaken still,” Schmidt said outside his Bensonhurst building last night.
“But thanks to the Fire Department and emergency services, they were great. They got us off [the rig] fast.”
Amazingly, Caraballo was so unfazed by the incident, he went to the gym after work, his wife said.
The men were brought inside the 46-story building at about 4 p.m.
“Both men were all smiles — adrenalized, of course, but no injuries or complaints,” EMT Moses Nelson said.
“Being out there for so long, tensions were high. They said, ‘Thank you, thank you!’ ”
Rescuers were fortunate there was no rain and little wind, which would have made their job much tougher.
“We practice this a lot. It’s just like when you’re training,” said firefighter Tom Gayron, who crawled through building glass and brought the men inside.
“You’re not nervous about how high you are. It wasn’t especially windy. You’re just worried about getting them secured.”
Additional reporting by Erin Calabrese, Kathryn Cusma, Yasmine Phillips and David K. Li