New York ( CNN ) -- Emergency crews on Wednesday rescued two window washers who were trapped on a hanging platform dangling perilously at the 68th floor of the 1,776-foot One World Trade Center building in lower Manhattan . Rescue workers used a diamond saw to tear through three layers of glass panes -- the thickest nearly two inches -- to pull the workers to safety about 2:15 p.m. , authorities said . The men were taken to Bellevue Hospital Center with mild hypothermia , police said . The workers had been tethered inside the apparatus , fire officials said . Additional personal safety cables were lowered from the roof of the 104-story building . `` I see two heads dangling over the scaffolding and one of the guys -- they just keep looking down , '' Reginald Moye , who watched the incident unfold from the 24th floor of a nearby hotel , told CNN . `` They look like they 're maybe five feet in the middle of the scaffold , hanging . '' A cable on one side of the hanging platform developed slack , leaving it suspended in a near-vertical position , authorities said . The cause was under investigation . The men were identified as Juan Lizama , 41 , of New Jersey , and Juan Lopez , 33 , of the Bronx , according to 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union , which represents about 600 window cleaners in New York City . Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said emergency personnel from the NYPD , the New York Fire Department and Port Authority police practiced a rescue from such a rig 10 days ago . `` They were more than ready to operate here , '' he told reporters . `` The result : two men are going to go home tonight . '' But it was n't easy . `` In this case , the glass is three layers thick and , of course , they 're 68 stories up , '' Nigro said . `` It does present a little more of a challenge . '' Television images showed the rig dangling precipitously at a sharp angle . A Twitter photo from the fire department showed the rig as seen from inside the tower , with New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty in the distance . Officials said emergency workers communicated with the window washers via a portable radio lowered by rope from the roof . The men worked for a company called Upgrade , according to Erica Dumas , a spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey . `` They were going up , washing the windows , and I was amazed at the view , '' Moye said . `` Wow . Such a dangerous job . So , suddenly , I did n't see it collapse , but once I looked over and said , something is wrong , it was dangling . '' Officials at Tractel , the company that designed , built and installed the window-washing rig , had no comment . Tractel also designed the scaffolding that collapsed at the Hearst Tower in Manhattan in June 2013 , according to aerial and CNN footage of both scenes . In the 2013 incident , two workers were rescued more than 550 feet above the streets of midtown Manhattan after their scaffolding buckled near the top of the tower , fire officials said . The workers , who spent 90 minutes dangling near the top of the building , suffered no injuries . Firefighters cut through a double-paned window on the 45th floor and brought the workers in through the newly created hole . At 1,776 feet tall , the One World Trade Center building surpassed Chicago 's 1,451-foot Willis Tower as the nation 's tallest building . The new building officially opened November 3 , when the first tenant , publishing company Conde Nast , moved in . Many of the floors remain unoccupied . It is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere , with a 408-foot spire atop the 1,368 foot tower . Its predecessor , the Twin Towers , were destroyed 13 years ago when al Qaeda terrorists flew two hijacked passenger jets into the buildings , killing 2,753 people on September 11 , 2001 . Asked if emotions surrounded the rescue , fire department Lt. Billy Ryan said : . `` It 's business . The task at hand is what you worry about . You separate yourself from that . This is business . '' CNN 's Steve Kastenbaum , Laura Ly , Lorenzo Ferigno , Renee Wunderlich , Leigh Remizowski and Kevin Conlon contributed to this report .
Two window washers rescued from window - washing rig high above collapsed . A platform collapsed at One World Trade Center with the tower on it . The tower is the country 's tallest building at 1,776 feet .