We have a sofa which is bigger than the service elevator in our apartment building, so the situation described in the title above was arrived at. There was also a large mirror to be hauled up. Here are the death defying photos:

Lift off

It’s heavier than it looks

Man on the other side of the street

Mirror from above

Sofas can’t be pulled up buildings… unless you’ve got (man)power!

Observe the very cool reflections and shadows on the window of the cafe in the third picture. That’s a bus downstairs.

In case you’re wondering, everything went fine. No drops, smashes, scratches, dents or anything. This kind of thing is apparently quite common. If you are moving to Rio, Metropolitan will do a very professional job, despite their inept flash based website.