MANHATTAN — A window washer plummeted to his death from the fifth floor of a luxury TriBeCa apartment building Tuesday afternoon, police said.
The unidentified 38-year-old man was inside the Hanover River House at 335 Greenwich St., reaching out to clean the outside of the window when he lost his balance, sending him to the ground just after 1 p.m., sources said.
The washer hadn't been wearing a harness, sources said.
"I just saw something fall very quickly and heard a very loud noise. It almost sounded like he landed on a car," said John Cataneo, 46, a plumber who lives in the area.
"His legs were twisted. His arms were bent. He was bleeding from his hands. It was very gruesome," Cataneo added.
The washer was lying face down on the ground, surrounded by his tools with part of his body embedded in a snow mound, Cataneo said.
"Myself and another gentleman, we tried to clear the snow, but the snow was so hard and we didn't have anything to dig with," the plumber said.
"We just took our coats off and put our coats on top of him, tried to keep him warm as best we could,"
He was pronounced dead at Lower Manhattan Hospital, officials said.
Police were still investigating his death.
Units in the building have sold for as much as $1.75 million, according to previous listings.
The Department of Buildings did not immediately have further information about the washer's death.
