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by SETH SOLOMONOW
Emergency crews yesterday rescued two Metropolitan Transportation Authority maintenance workers stranded atop a malfunctioning cherry picker at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge toll plaza.
No one was injured during the 30-minute drama, which unfolded yards in front of the toll booths along the shoulder of the Staten Island Expressway's Brooklyn-bound lanes.
Authorities said the workers were replacing bulbs in one of the plaza's eight 90-foot-tall floodlight towers about 11 a.m. when the cherry-picker arm become stuck in its fully extended position.
Another maintenance worker in a backup truck radioed the bridge office, which alerted the Fire and Police departments.
Firefighters arrived at the scene within minutes and used their own cherry picker to pluck the two to safety.
Although they were trapped high above the pavement, the two workers were never in danger, authorities said.
One of Lily Pond Avenue's two on-ramps was shut for about 20 minutes, but traffic continued smoothly along both the bridge and the Expressway.
MTABridgesand Tunnels spokesman Frank Pascual said a repair crew later managed to retract the cherry-picker arm, adding that it would be inspected before it is returned to service.
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