NEW YORK (Kashmir English): A Russian daredevil couple climbed to the very top of the Empire State Building’s towering spire in New York City to unfurl a large banner urging world peace in what soon appeared to be an elaborate marriage proposal.
The attempt, however, ended in the arrest of the couple, on Wednesday.
Dressed in sleeveless black outfits and documenting their time in the sky on social media, Angela Nikolau and Vanya Beerkus hung onto the historic skyscraper’s antenna spire near the glowing red light.
Empire State Building
The spire and broadcast antenna push the building’s total height to 1,454 feet (443.2 meters). The architectural tower segment starts above the 102nd-floor observatory.
The duo held a black banner with a message in all-capital white letters that flapped in the wind reading: “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 video feeds slowly coming 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 became known as “rooftopping” were the subject of a 2024 Netflix documentary called “Skywalkers: A Love Story.”
The New York Police Department blocked streets around the building and later said they had taken the couple into custody “without incident.”
The couple, identified by police as Angelina Nikolau, 33, and Ivan Kuznetsov, 32, were charged with several offences, including burglary, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, criminal tampering, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct, according to the police spokesperson.
The NYPD spokesperson said he did not know whether the couple were still in custody.
It was not clear how the couple gained access to the antenna.
New York landmarks, including the Empire State Building, have heightened security since the World Trade Center attacks in 2001.
Father of climber says “it’s normal”
The Art Deco tower, for decades the tallest building in the world before it was surpassed in the 1960s, sells tickets to tourists who want to ascend to an enclosed observation deck on its 102nd floor. However, it does not allow visitors to go higher.
An Empire State Building spokesperson described Wednesday’s climb as an “unauthorized incident”.
In a statement, he suggested that the couple should have instead opted for the building’s $1,000 “Happily Ever Empire Proposal Package” to rent out the observation deck.
Nikolau’s acrobatics run in the family, and her father, the Russian circus artist Dmitriy Nikolau, was aware of his daughter’s climb when answering a call from a media-person.
“I think it is normal to climb up a roof in any country, including the United States, according to any constitution,” he said. Asked if he was worried about her following her arrest, he said: “Why should I be worried? I climb up roofs myself.”
