2 window washers hurt by power line in Lynbrook

Two workers for a window-washing company were hurt in a freak accident Saturday after police said their 40-foot-long telescoping pole struck a power line.

The workers, from Hewlett Window Cleaners, were preparing to wash the Bank of America windows at 300 Merrick Rd. in Lynbrook when a gust of wind blew the pole into the power line, Nassau police said.

Alan Weinberg, 64, of Long Beach, had a heart attack, and both he and Nicholas Genovese, 58, of Staten Island, suffered burns, police said.

Genovese was at the top of a ladder when the pole struck the line, police said, and Weinberg was at the base of the ladder, holding the bottom of the pole.

Rescue workers from the Lynbrook Police Department initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Weinberg, according to a news release.

Police said paramedics from the Lynbrook fire department continued treatment, "regaining a heartbeat."

Weinberg was taken to South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, where his condition was stabilized, then transferred to the burn unit of Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow for treatment of second- and third-degree burns to his hands and feet.

Genovese also was taken to the burn unit for treatment of second- and third-degree burns. He was in stable condition.

Wind gusts Saturday hit 36 mph in Farmingdale at 8 a.m. and again at 12:46 p.m., according to the National Weather Service in Upton. A 38-mph gust was recorded at Islip at 1 p.m.