Window Washers Saved After Dangling 78 Stories High on Side of Billionaires’ Row Tower
The FDNY rescued two window washers on Feb. 28 who were stranded on a detached scaffold 78-stories high that was bashing the side of an tower on Billionaires Row, home to some of the priciest condos in the city.
| 03 Mar 2025 | 05:22
Workers on a dangling scaffold two stories from the top of 25 Columbus Circle, 78 stories above street level. (
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The skyscraper that the scaffolding was hanging from (left) is one of two Time Warner Center residential buildings. (
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Deputy Chief Michael Trahan and Lieutenant Nick Schneider hold press conference. (
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High above the street on Billionaires Row, two window washers faced what many would consider to be their worst nightmare–dangling from an uncontrolled scaffold that was bashing into windows on the 78th floor of the 80-story tower.
Miraculously, firefighters were able to secure the wildly swinging scaffold and drag the two window washers to safety.
Panicked onlookers had already gathered on the ground below on Friday Feb. 28 at 9:47 a.m. when the FDNY responded to 911 calls for workers stranded on an unattached scaffolding at 25 Columbus Circle, home to some of the priciest real estate in Manhattan.
“When units showed up, the scaffolding wasn’t attached and it was swinging around, smacking into the building,” Deputy Chief Michael Trahan of Division 3 said during a press conference after the daring rescue. “There was glass all over the street. Units acted quickly and secured the street for pedestrians walking by.”
When the FDNY got to the 78th floor, they quickly realized that both workers were not secured to their safety lines.
“They were not tied off. They had harnesses on, but for some reason, they were not secured to any sort of safety lines,” said Lieutenant Nick Schneider from Ladder Company 4.
Tieing a life saving rope to a substantial object, units were able to stabilize the left-hand side of the scaffolding. When Rescue 1 members arrived at the scene, they tied off the right side.
Videos of the dangling scaffold show the gravity of the incident, with the structure spiraling stories above the street, smashing into the glass façade of the building.
“It was extremely dangerous, obviously for the occupants of the scaffolding, but initially when we got on scene, it was extremely dangerous for members of the FDNY,” said Schneider. “We had to be careful for our members. Essentially, we’re operating on the ledge of a 78-story building, so it was very difficult for us.”
Schneider proceeded to express his bafflement as to why the two workers were not properly harnessed.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, the fact that they weren’t tied off. They kept trying to stand up in the scaffolding and we kept telling them to sit down. Fortunately, both sides of the scaffolding remained level, because they weren’t secured to anything.”
The NYC Department of Buildings has ordered the building to repair the damaged windows, David Maggiotto, Deputy Press Secretary of the NYC DOB told The Spirit. Until permanent repairs can be implemented, the gaping holes will be boarded up from the interior.
The day of the incident happened to be a particularly windy day in Manhattan, which made the situation more hazardous and responders’ jobs more difficult.
“Whatever the wind is like on street level,” explained Schneider, “once you get up to the 78th floor it’s a whole different ball game.”
Once rescued from the scaffold, both workers were treated by EMS and transported to New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center. Their identities have not been made public. Both are in stable condition.
Built in 2003, Time Warner Center, which once housed one of the nation’s biggest media conglomerates, is now an anchor of Billionaire’s Row luxury skyscrapers with a multi-million dollar condos and stunning views of the city below. Among its past residents was billionaire real estate developer Stephen Ross, chairman and majority owner of The Related Companies.
He listed his top-floor penthouse, which was two stories above the Feb. 28 window washer drama scene, for $75 million in 2019. But it didn’t sell until 2023 when it went for $40 million.
Russian financier Andrey Vavilov, the first deputy finance minister of Russia under Mikhail Kasyanov, sold his 78th floor penthouse for $68 million in 2013.
The floor-to-ceiling glass building overlooks Central Park, the Hudson river and the Manhattan skyline – a trifecta exclusive to Manhattan’s richest. We could not learn by press time who Kasyanov sold his 78th floor penthouse to, but whoever occupies the floor now had their grandeur shattered on Friday–literally.
A New York Times story in 2013 said that most of the condos at the address were sold to foreign owners who used them as investments and pied-à-terres rather than as full time residences. But the unit that was bashed by the scaffolding on Feb. 28 was actually occupied at the time of the incident. The identification of the residents could not be learned at press time, but the FDNY said they were uninjured.