Two People Climb to the Top of Empire State Building Antenna, Fly Banner with Message
A couple of climbers, Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, scaled the Empire State Building in New York City and unfurled a banner with the message “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace.” During the stunt, the masked duo reached the top of the building’s radio and television tower, approximately 1,454 feet above the street. The event was captured by news helicopters, and the climbers appeared to be proposing to each other. However, they were arrested soon after.The climbers are Russian nationals known for taking daring heights, including a previous attempt on Malaysia’s Merdeka 118 skyscraper, which they documented in a Netflix film. Their risky climb posed meaningful danger, especially given their location on a live transmission tower.Charges are currently pending against them. The incident drew widespread media attention, highlighting their willingness to undertake extreme stunts and their relationship milestone of announcing their engagement afterward.
If it’s not a match made in heaven, they sure are trying.
After a daredevil couple — a man and a woman, both masked — scaled to the topmost point of the Empire State Building in New York City on Wednesday, they descended to a lower level, where the man was seen dropping to one knee, apparently proposing to his paramour, CBS News reported.
The romance apparently didn’t sway the NYPD, though, as both were arrested.
JUST IN: After two people climbed to the top of the Empire State Building and unfurled a banner on top of its spire Wednesday afternoon, one of the climbers appeared to propose to the other. https://t.co/ngG3jOeTBU pic.twitter.com/PhubQpnRH6
— ABC News (@ABC) July 1, 2026
The incident began about noon, when the couple opened mesh gates on the iconic building’s observation deck and began to climb the radio and television transmission tower that reaches 1,454 feet above the street, CBS reported.
There they unfurled a banner that declared: “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace.”
The dizzying height made for gripping video, as news helicopters swarmed the scene:
BREAKING: Two people have climbed to the top of the Empire State Building in New York City, holding a banner from the skyscraper’s antenna reading, “When the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace.”
As of now it’s unclear how the pair reached the top of the… pic.twitter.com/rUPZ6nc1eK
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 1, 2026
Former CBS News Chief Engineer John Cleary, who knows a thing or two about the television tower of one of the most famous buildings in the world, told CBS the couple’s stunt carried enormous risk.
“There’s potential for danger up there. It’s something that we’re trained to do. We go to classes for this … it’s not like you climb rocks,” he said.
“This is a live transmission tower. There’s a lot of danger up there.”
According to the New York Daily News, the couple was identified as Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, Russian nationals who apparently have a thing for heights (not to mention self-promotion).
They starred in a Netflix documentary in 2024 called “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” which chronicled their attempt to climb the world’s second-tallest building, the 118-story Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
(For those keeping score at home, the world’s tallest building is the Burj Khalifa, a 163-story behemoth in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Empire State Building, at one time the world’s tallest, now checks in at No. 58.)
The movie database site IMDb described the couple’s Merdeka project as “a bold acrobatic stunt on the spire to salvage both their career and relationship.”
Judging by the fact that the two announced their engagement on Wednesday, according to the Daily News, the relationship appears to have been safely salvaged.
As to their careers? That remains to be seen.
Charges from Wednesday’s stunt are pending, according to WNYW-TV, Fox’s station in New York City.
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