A Russian couple climbed to the antenna of New York’s Empire State Building on Wednesday without ropes or safety equipment, got engaged at the top, and were arrested when they came down, according to the New York Police Department (NYPD).
The couple, self-identified on social media as Ivan Berkus, 32, and Angela Nikolau, 33, reached a point roughly 443 metres above the ground, drawing television helicopters and onlookers with binoculars. They unfurled a banner reading “When the power of love conquers the love of power, the world knows peace,” after which Berkus proposed to Nikolau over the streets of Manhattan.
The NYPD charged the pair with burglary, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, violation of local law, possession of burglary tools, criminal trespass, unlawful entry and disorderly conduct.
Berkus and Nikolau are known “rooftoppers” who climb skyscrapers, cranes and monuments without ropes or safety gear, building an online following by posting images of their largely illegal climbs. Their relationship and 2022 climb of Malaysia’s 678-metre Merdeka 118 tower were the subject of the 2024 Netflix documentary “Skywalkers: A Love Story.”
The pair have been arrested once before, in Paris, after police caught them climbing the Basilica of Sainte-Clotilde, and spent a night in custody. “We are just artists filming the city from above,” Berkus said in the documentary. “I don’t see anything wrong with that.”
Others have climbed the Empire State Building’s antenna and other sections in the past, mostly illegally. In 2023, Jared Leto became the first person to legally climb the building, reaching the base of the antenna from the 86th floor with permission, as part of promoting his band’s 2024 world tour.