Oh, the dizzying highs of love! Daredevil couple Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus have been taken into police custody after scaling the spire and antenna of the Empire State Building in New York, unfurling a pro-peace banner before staging a dramatic marriage proposal.
Footage captured by news helicopters showed the duo, dressed head-to-toe in black and wearing face coverings, perched at the very top of the building’s antenna.
During the stunt, they unveiled a banner reading: “When the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace.”
After descending to a platform below, Beerkus appeared to get down on one knee before the couple embraced.
They later revealed their identities by removing their masks and shared footage of the moment and the ring across social media, encouraging followers to tune into the Empire State Building’s live webcam.
The stunt took place around lunchtime on Wednesday (local time), prompting road closures in Midtown Manhattan as authorities responded to the unique situation.
So, who exactly are these thrill-seeking lovers? Ahead, everything we know about the couple.
Who Are Angela Nikolau & Ivan Beerkus?
The pair are well known in the urban exploration community, having amassed more than 1.3 million Instagram followers documenting their death-defying climbs of skyscrapers, bridges and towers around the world. Their relationship and high-risk pursuits were also the subject of the 2024 Netflix documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story.
On Instagram, Nikolau describes herself as a “neoartist exploring identity, fear & freedom,” adding that her dream is “to push the boundaries of what’s acceptable in art.”
Her posts date back to 2013 and chronicle more than a decade of increasingly daring ascents. Nikolau, 33, and Beerkus, 32, began climbing together in 2016, the same year they travelled to China to scale what was then the world’s tallest building under construction, complete with a crane at its summit.
Beyond their Netflix documentary, the pair have also posted about taking part in a campaign for Diesel and, over the past year, shared footage from the tops of structures across California, including the Hollywood Sign.
Earlier this year, Nikolau revealed they had relocated from their hometown of Moscow to New York.
“We’re learning how to make friends again, how to find ourselves in a new city, how to communicate in a language that still feels foreign sometimes,” she wrote on Facebook. “And this whole experience has brought us even closer. We’ve become real best friends to each other. Sometimes we even have more fun just the two of us than in loud crowds.”
They have also been candid about the risks that come with their lifestyle.
In Skywalkers: A Love Story, Nikolau says, “We’ve been arrested before,” as the documentary follows the pair’s increasingly audacious climbs around the world. According to the film, more than 20 people have died attempting “roof-topping,” an extreme form of urban exploration that involves climbing tall structures without protective equipment.
Following their Empire State Building proposal, the New York City Police Department believes the pair accessed the spire through a locked maintenance hatch on the building’s 102nd-floor observation deck. Investigators are reviewing surveillance footage to determine exactly how they entered the restricted area.
A spokesperson for the Empire State Building said there was “at no time” any danger to tenants or visitors, adding that the building’s observation deck “does offer a practical way for the most memorable marriage proposals.”
Based on the image, Nikolau’s engagement ring appears to feature a classic round brilliant-cut solitaire diamond set in a four-prong cathedral setting on a silver coloured band.
The pair now face charges including burglary, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, trespass and disorderly conduct, according to CBS.
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