How is it determined if the city's historic and landmarked buildings are in need of exterior repair? Turns out there are firms of engineers and architects who, with the assistance of ropes and harnesses, rappel from buildings' windows to get up-close to the areas in question. "You can crane your head out a window, you can use binoculars, but it's not the same thing as being inches away from something that may be a hairline crack or confirm there is not a crack," one such daring architect told WSJ. Not only is the feat cost effective in diagnosing problems, it's also really, really cool. [WSJ]
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