Stomach-churning moment daredevil walks tightrope between 49 story abandoned Downtown LA skyscrapers after getting fake cult members to distract security so he could slip inside

This is the stomach-churning moment a daredevil walked a tightrope between two 49 story abandoned Los Angeles skyscrapers. 

YouTuber Ben Schneider shared footage of himself balanced between the Oceanwide Plaza apartment buildings, which have become known as 'graffiti towers' after vandals turned them into a downtown eyesore. 

Schneider said he was able to slip past a police perimeter after his friends distracted guards by pretending to be a religious cult. 

Speaking of his death-defying stunt, Schneider told KTLA: 'I call it moral graffiti... I’m a moral graffiti artist. I vandalize buildings without causing any building damage.' 

Stunning footage captured the moment YouTuber Ben Schneider scaled between the abandoned Oceanwide Plaza buildings in Los Angeles 

The Oceanwide Plaza apartment buildings have become known as the 'graffiti towers' after vandals turned them into a downtown eyesore 

Schneider and his team pulled off the daring stunt by climbing over 500 feet up both towers several times, tying a one-inch-thick nylon strap between their roofs. 

The Oceanwide Plaza condos were intended to be a $1 billion luxury apartment building and retail space, but have fallen into disrepair and laid vacant for years. 

Without occupants, the towers have become a popular graffiti spot, which Scheider said attracted him to attempt the stunt.

To sneak past the guards, he said he and his team 'pretended we were a religious cult and we got 20 people to all hold signs saying, ‘Jesus Saves.'' 

'The signs were blocking the police’s point of view, so we just hopped the fence,' he added. 

Once on top of the buildings, Schneider - while wearing a safety harness - scaled the tightrope between the buildings, which stand at 49 stories high, or 675 feet. 

Schneider held a selfie stick above his head as he walked the line, capturing the panoramic viewpoint and inducing vertigo on millions of viewers. 

The Oceanwide Plaza condos were intended to be a $1 billion luxury apartment building and retail space, but have fallen into disrepair as they have laid vacant for years

Lydia Ren, Schneider's lookout (pictured together) during the stunt, said she was 'pretty confident Ben could pull it off as he attempted the death-defying act 

Lydia Ren, Schneider's lookout during the stunt, said she was 'pretty confident Ben could pull it off', as he traversed the line for over two minutes. 

'I just do this for fun. This is not a job. I actually work at a VR startup so this is like my weekend thing,' she added. 

When security reportedly realized the daredevil was in the building, he was forced to hide in a bathtub and cover himself with plywood to evade officers. 

KTLA reported that he remained hidden for hours before walking away without being arrested. 

Schneider has amassed a following of over 350,000 fans on YouTube and said the risks of his hobby don't faze him because 'everything's dangerous.'

'Driving a car is dangerous, but we still drive,' he said.

'The stunt I did was dangerous, but I think the reward outweighed the risk because I think we inspired a lot of people. I got to push myself out of my comfort zone. We got to do something scary and inspire the world to go live their best life.' 

After completing the stunt, Schneider said 'the reward outweighed the risk because I think we inspired a lot of people... We got to do something scary and inspire the world to go live their best life' 

The site of his daring stunt has become known as the 'graffiti towers' in recent years after a developer's dream condominiums fell into disrepair as they ran out of funds to finish the buildings. 

As well as being a common artist spot and tightrope-walk opportunity, the towers have also reportedly seen taggers scale the facades, while one person even reportedly base jumped from the roof. 

As city leaders struggle with solving what to do with the eyesores, Los Angeles City Council voted in March to spend $3.8 million cleaning up the site.