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Photo by Travis Schoening Man hangs off Mag Mile roof

After finding their way to the roof of a River North hotel, one man climbed over the edge so the other could take his photo. The hotel is surprised but not amused.

(Left) A man dangles purposely from the south side of the roof of the 46-story Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile on Wednesday afternoon. Photo by Travis Schoening.

16-Jan-15 – A man wearing a red knit cap, white scarf, and brown boots was photographed hanging by his arms over the side of the roof of the Marriott hotel on Michigan Avenue on Wednesday.

A witness saw the man first sit on the edge of the roof, facing south. He then turned around and, gripping something within reach, dangled over the side of a 460-foot building.

It happened at about 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday. At the same time, farther south on Michigan Avenue, Travis Schoening, chief creative officer for the public relations firm Res Publica Group, was watching the stunt from a nearby office tower.

“Just happened outside work,” he tweeted with photos, “This is just going to give them what they want, exposure, but this trend needs to stop!”

He says the men were on the roof for about three minutes and did not appear to be in trouble.

(Right) Another man was on the roof with a camera, photographing the man hanging over the edge.

Photo by Travis Schoening

Photo by Travis Schoening The Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile is a 1,173-room hotel owned by Marriott International, Inc. On Thursday, a spokesperson for Marriott said they learned of the incident after it happened.

(Left) A closer view of the two men.

“We are grateful nobody was hurt,” said Jeff Flaherty, senior director of global corporate relations. “At this time it is unclear how they accessed the restricted area of the hotel but we will be even more vigilant at securing the area in order to prevent another dangerous stunt like this in the future.”

Photo by Steven Dahlman

(Above) This image from 2006 shows the Marriott sign and the view looking north from the roof of Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile. (Click on image to view larger version.)