Window washer dead in 40-story scaffold fall in New York City

A window washer died Friday and his brother was seriously injured after a 40-stories scaffold fall from a Manhattan skyscraper.

Photo: Window washer dead in 40-story scaffold fall in New York City

The injured man was taken to a hospital in serious condition, fire officials said.

The brothers were getting onto the scaffolding from the roof of the 45-story building when the platform gave way, Fire Department spokesman Seth Andrews said.

Parts of the scaffold and the body of the dead worker landed in a plaza area outside the building on Manhattan's east side.

Andrews said the window washers were brothers, but their names were not immediately available. A doorman said the window washers had worked at the building for about three years.

They were employed by City Wide Window Cleaning, officials said. A number listed for the company was out of service; a person who answered the telephone at a second number listed declined to comment, saying she was only authorized to answer service calls.

A call to Solow Building Co., the management company, was not immediately returned.