Скачать или смотреть NYC's First Window Washers

When New York City's first skyscrapers began rising above the Manhattan skyline in the late 1800s, a brand new and terrifyingly dangerous profession was born — the window washer. The New York World Building, completed in 1890 as the city's first true high-rise, set the stage for an impossible maintenance challenge. Early window washers had no scaffolding, no electric lifts, and no safety harnesses — they simply stood on tiny ledges and held on tight. By the early 1900s, leather harnesses and steel bolt hooks became standard gear, allowing workers to dangle stories above the street. These unsung laborers risked their lives daily, keeping the glass facades of the Flatiron Building, the Empire State Building, and Chrysler Building gleaming for New York City below.