Window Washer Falls to Death Near Union Square

Yesterday afternoon, a window washer fell 12 stories to his death from a Greenwich Village building. The incident occurred at 40 Fifth Avenue, a 17-story apartment building near 11th Street. A witness said, "Around 4:30 p.m., I hear the people screaming, screaming and screaming call the police." The NY Times reports that the victim was a "well-liked," "self-employed contractor who had been washing windows and doing other work at the building for 20 years." While the incident is being investigated, the man was wearing a harness. Earlier in the day, two window washers were rescued after their scaffolding basket stalled around the 30th floor of a Times Square skyscraper.