The New York Fire Department on Wednesday rescued two window washers who had been trapped on scaffolding 69 stories up the side of New York City's newly inaugurated One World Trade City, NBC News reported.

The workers had spent an hour on the open-topped scaffolding, which dangled at what officials said was about a 45-degree angle after one of its cables had apparently broken, the Associated Press said.

"Initial reports suggested the washers were done cleaning the windows and were about to ascend to the top of the tower when the cable that pulls the scaffold up became loose," CBS New York noted. "Images from the scene showed the scaffolding dangling at a precarious angle as emergency responders from the Police and Fire Departments along with the Port Authority tried to rescue the workers and secure the dangling scaffold platform."

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey owns One World Trade Center, the Western Hemisphere's tallest towers, which stands next to the memorial site for the original World Trade Center towers destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack.

Media company Condé Nast, the new skyscraper's first tenant, moved some of its employees into the tower last week, according to NBC News. One World Trade Center stands at a symbolic 1,776 feet; it is 104 stories tall and cost almost $4 billion to build.

"Fire crews cut through a window 68 stories up and gently pulled (the window washers) inside to safety," NBC News detailed. "The workers were in harnesses and secure while they were trapped, fire officials said. After crews cut a rough rectangle in the glass, they attached an extra harness to each man and gingerly pulled them in."

According to the network's local affiliate, WNBC, the two men had years of experience washing windows at New York skyscrapers. "They're a lot older now than they were two hours ago," Thomas Von Essen, a former New York fire commissioner, told the station, according to NBC News.