Another angle:
Holy shit all the people just standing there at the hole in the side of the building…
This was pre-OSHA. Now I can’t even reach up to adjust the fan cage on my own.
Regardless of “can” or “can’t,” I wouldn’t stand on a modern balcony that had passed inspection at that height, let alone a crumbly unsecured hole that has made no promise to maintain its integrity. Even if there were hypothetically no risk, I see no rail or even, like, a cable.
A strong gust of wind or particularly intrusive thought could easily ruin one or more lives there.