Video: Mystery NYC rooftop jumper hops between awnings of building

Mystery rooftop jumper identity revealed after viral video

A viral video shows a man jumping between the awnings of a building in Lower Manhattan, but would you believe it’s all part of his job? FOX 5 NY’s Jessica Formoso tracked down the mystery man to find out what he was doing up there.

NEW YORK – A viral video showed a man jumping between the awnings of a building in Lower Manhattan, but would you believe the daredevil stunt is all part of his job?

The video showed a man in dress pants and dress shoes on the roof of 90 West Street in the Financial District, jumping from awning to awning before opening a window and going into one of the apartments.

Cinematographer Erik Ljung happened to catch the death-defying run while filming a project in the building across the street. 

"We were in a conference room and the photographer asked me if we might shoot in the room," Ljung said. "And so I stepped to the window to check out the light, see if the clouds were breaking, see if we were going to get direct sunlight in there, and as soon as I looked out, there's this guy jumping from awning to awning."

RELATED: Tree branch hits Jim Cantore during Hurricane Ian report: 'Just give me a minute'

Ljung said the entire thing happened on Monday, just before 10 a.m.

"I was like yo, you guys gotta check this out, this is some weird New York (Expletive) going on," Ljung said.

But who was the mystery man, and why was he casually jumping across the rooftop?

RELATED: Viral video claims to show family sneaking older child into Disney World using baby stroller

"He looked fairly comfortable out there, and I said ‘This is weird,'" Ljung said. 

Turns out, the man was comfortable up there, because he had been there several times before.

Joseph Smizaski is the name of the man seen in the video, and he is the Director of Operations at Standard Water Proofing, a building restoration service in the Bronx. 

Smizaski says the reason he was on the roof on Monday was because there was a leak, and they had removed part of the scaffolding and were making sure all was good for when the Department of Building Inspector showed up.

"I was on the north side, and it just started to drizzle, so I said let me get out of here before it comes down heavy, so I went across quickly because that was the safest thing to do than going slow, because I felt that if I went too slow it'd be too slippery." Smizaski said. 

Smizaski said he wants people to know that he was being safe and would never put his life or anyone else’s in danger.