Pair climb to top of Empire State Building for apparent proposal, arrested
- Last updated: July 1, 2026 | 23:01
Two people were arrested on Wednesday afternoon after scaling the upper structure of the Empire State Building and unfurling a banner atop the landmark’s antenna spire.
The climbers identified themselves on Instagram as Angela Nikolau, 33, and Vanya Beerkus, 32. They are prominent rooftop climbers and stars of the Netflix documentary “Skywalkers: A Love Story.”
New York City police and building security responded to the Midtown Manhattan scene around noon as helicopters circled the building.
Onlookers observed the figures near the top of the 1,454-foot structure with a large banner that read, “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace.”
The stunt appears to have culminated in a marriage proposal between Nikolau and Beerkus. The pair later posted a joint Instagram update confirming their engagement. The post included a photograph of Beerkus down on one knee, another image showing Nikolau with her hand extended displaying an engagement ring overlooking the city skyline and a photo of their hands interlocked.
Prior to the arrests, Nikolau documented the climb on her Instagram account, posting a video to her story from the top of the skyscraper showing views across Manhattan.
A subsequent post on her story featured a video filmed by an observer on the ground, which captured her waving from the upper structure of the building.
Nikolau and Beerkus are among the world’s most prominent practitioners of “rooftopping” — an extreme subculture where climbers scale skyscrapers, construction cranes and monuments illegally without harnesses or safety gear to capture photos and videos for social media.
Individually and as a couple, the Moscow-born daredevils have built an international following by successfully infiltrating some of the most heavily secured structures across Europe and Asia.
Before teaming up, Beerkus made his reputation by ascending landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and the Shanghai Tower in China. The two first collaborated in 2016 to scale the Goldin Finance 117 skyscraper in Tianjin, China.
The Independent