A marriage proposal on the observation deck of the Empire State Building is a classic cliché. Tourists do it every day. But on Wednesday afternoon, a famous daredevil couple decided the 102nd floor wasn't high enough. They bypassed security, broke through a restricted maintenance hatch, and scaled the building's massive broadcasting antenna with zero safety ropes.
They got engaged at 1,454 feet while dangling over Midtown Manhattan. Then they got arrested.
The climbers are Ivan Kuznetsov, 32, and Angelina Nikolau, 33. On social media, they're known as Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau, the infamous Russian "rooftopping" duo who starred in the 2024 Netflix documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story. While romantic thrill-seekers are calling the stunt legendary, the reality behind the spectacle reveals a massive physical security breach and a highly dangerous stunt that forced the iconic skyscraper to shut down its live broadcasting antennas.
The High-Altitude Proposal and the Jimi Hendrix Banner
Around noon on Wednesday, visitors on the public observation decks noticed two people dressed in black walking past security mesh gates. Because they weren't wearing masks at the time, eyewitnesses assumed they were maintenance workers. They weren't.
The couple slipped through an access hatch on the 103rd floor, an area strictly reserved for water tower maintenance. From there, they climbed onto the latticework of the transmission tower. Once they reached the upper spires of the antenna, they donned face masks and unfurled a large black banner. It read: “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace.”
As an NYPD helicopter circled and specialized Emergency Services Unit officers began scaling the internal ladders to intercept them, the couple began their descent to a lower platform on the tower. There, Kuznetsov dropped to one knee, pulled out an engagement ring, and proposed. Nikolau accepted, took a few bird's-eye view selfies of the ring against the Manhattan skyline, and waited for the police.
When the NYPD bodycam footage was released later that afternoon, it showed a surprisingly calm interaction. An officer climbed out onto the landing and said, "Well, you can't be up here." A voice off-camera simply replied, "We are engaged." They were escorted down through the loading dock in handcuffs, facing a mountain of criminal charges.
The Slew of Charges Facing the Skywalkers
This wasn't a harmless romantic gesture. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office and the NYPD slapped the couple with a heavy list of offenses. If you think a simple trespassing ticket is the worst that can happen for rooftopping in New York City, you're mistaken.
The couple faces charges including:
- Felony burglary
- Reckless endangerment
- Criminal mischief
- Criminal trespass
- Possession of burglar’s tools
- Criminal tampering
- Disorderly conduct
The building's management statement tried to downplay the chaos, claiming that visitors and guests were never in danger and reminding people that the official observation deck is a much more practical place to propose. But the real issue isn't just the fall risk. It's the RF radiation.
The Empire State Building’s antenna isn't just decorative; it actively transmits high-power radio and television signals for local stations. Climbing an active broadcast tower exposes the human body to extreme levels of radiofrequency radiation, which can cause severe internal tissue heating. According to law enforcement sources, the building actually had to shut down the powered antenna during the incident to prevent the climbers from being cooked from the inside out.
The Security Questions Manhattan Can't Ignore
The internet points might look good on Instagram, but New York security experts are furious. The Empire State Building has a tight security apparatus, historically heightened due to past incidents like the 1997 observation deck shooting. Visitors are heavily screened, and items like masks, costumes, and large packages are banned.
Yet, Kuznetsov and Nikolau managed to smuggle a massive banner, cameras, photographic tethers, and specialized tools into the building inside a backpack. They successfully navigated from a public tourist zone into a secure, locked engineering zone without triggering alarms early enough to be stopped.
Veteran rooftoppers point out that the legal risks in NYC usually deter local climbers. The consequences of getting caught on a landmark like the Empire State Building outweigh the clout for most people. Nikolau and Beerkus have run into similar legal walls across the globe, including an arrest in Paris for climbing the Basilica of Sainte-Clotilde and a recent run-in with authorities in China.
If you're planning an iconic New York proposal, stick to the designated observation platforms. Slipping through maintenance hatches might get you a viral video, but it also gets you a mandatory stay in a Manhattan holding cell and a felony record.
Climbing Couple Arrested
This news broadcast provides an inside look at the security vulnerability exposed by the stunt and features eyewitness accounts of the couple's high-altitude arrest.
