Daredevil Couple Arrested After Scaling Empire State Building for Proposal

A Russian daredevil couple have been arrested after scaling the Empire State Building and staging a marriage proposal atop the New York landmark, more than 1,400ft above Manhattan.

The stunt unfolded at around noon on Wednesday, drawing the attention of stunned New Yorkers below as police drones and a helicopter monitored the pair from the air. Videos and photos posted online showed the black-clad couple perched on the antenna of the Empire State Building high above Midtown, with the woman wearing what appeared to be a black cat mask.

The couple, later identified as Angela Nikolau, 33, and Ivan “Vanya” Beerkus, 32, unfurled a banner with a quote attributed to the legendary rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix: “When the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace.”

The daredevils then descended to a lower platform, where Beerkus appeared to get down on one knee and propose, before the couple hugged and kissed.

After spending roughly half an hour at the very top of the tower, the couple climbed down to a lower platform, where New York Police Department officers were waiting to arrest them.

According to US media, they face charges including burglary, criminal trespass and reckless endangerment.

Nikolau and Beerkus are well known in the “rooftopping” world, where thrill-seekers climb skyscrapers, cranes and other high structures, often without safety equipment.

The pair were featured in the 2024 Netflix documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story, which followed their high-altitude stunts across multiple countries. Their social media pages show similar climbs from rooftops and bridges around the world.

The Empire State Building management said the incident was safely resolved together with the NYPD and that there was no threat to public safety. The building used the incident as an opportunity to promote its legal proposal package for couples on its observation decks, starting at $1,000 – without the risk of a felony.