James Marksbury has one of the top jobs in New York City—literally. He works at the tops of some of the city’s tallest buildings, dangling from ropes hundreds of feet above the ground.
Marksbury is a rope access supervisor. He and his team are trained to do all types of jobs in high places that ladders and cranes can’t reach. He does everything from fixing leaks and painting to cleaning windows and doing inspections.
Marksbury recently spent about two years helping restore the top of the Empire State Building. Working more than 1,000 feet above the streets below, he and his team removed about 40,000 pounds of steel and old antennas. While dealing with strong winds, they made repairs and installed hundreds of new aluminum panels.
Though he’s worked at dizzying heights for nearly 20 years, Marksbury says he’s never gotten scared. And what’s the best part of his job?
“The view is still stunning to me,” he says.