Russian daredevils scale Empire State Building for proposal stunt, then get arrested
Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus unfurled a banner about the ‘power of love’ from the antenna spire of the landmark New York skyscraper
A Russian couple of daredevil artists climbed to the top of the Empire State Building’s towering spire in New York City on Wednesday to unfurl a large banner urging world peace in what appeared to be an elaborate marriage proposal that ended in their arrests.
Dressed in sleeveless black outfits and documenting their time in the sky on social media, Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus hung onto the landmark skyscraper’s antenna spire near the glowing red light at its tip some 443 metres (1,454 feet) above the pavements of midtown Manhattan.
They held a black banner with a message in all-capital white letters that flapped in the wind that said: “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace”.
A little after 12.30pm, the pair could be seen on aerial video feeds slowly climbing down to a slightly lower platform in the antenna structure, where they paused. Beerkus then appeared to propose to Nikolau, getting down on one knee, before the couple embraced and kissed.
Nikolau, wearing her trademark Catwoman-style headgear, could then be seen admiring her hand and taking photographs of her ring to share on Instagram.
The couple and their adventures in what has become known as “rooftopping” were the subject of a 2024 documentary called Skywalkers: A Love Story. The pair have travelled extensively to scale mega-tall structures across the globe, including illicit, high-stakes climbs in Hong Kong and Malaysia.