A Russian couple climbed to the top of the Empire State Building and unfurled a banner urging world peace before, in an apparent elaborate marriage proposal that ended with their arrests.
Daredevils Angela Nikolau and Vanya Beerkus documented themselves hanging onto the landmark skyscraper's antenna spire 1,454 feet (443 meters) above New York, where they held a black banner with a message in white letters that said: "When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace."
The couple then descended to a lower platform on the antenna, where Beerkus appeared to get down on one knee, shortly after which the couple kissed and embraced.
Nikolau could then be seen admiring a ring on her hand and taking photographs of it.
The New York Police Department closed down streets around the building and said the couple had been taken into custody.
An Empire State Building spokesperson described Wednesday's climb as an "unauthorized incident" in a statement.
Nikolau, who has more than a million followers on Instagram, regularly shares herself and Beerkus perched on the top of buildings and other tall structures like bridges.
The couple and their adventures, which have become known as "rooftopping," were the subject of a 2024 Netflix documentary called 'Skywalkers: A Love Story.'
Nikolau's acrobatics run in the family, and her father, the Russian circus artist Dmitriy Nikolau, said he was aware of his daughter's climb.
"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."
U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to make the Strait of Hormuz part of U.S. territory have been mocked by Iran's Deputy Foreign Ministe...
Five years ago today, Taliban fighters entered Kabul, completing a rapid takeover of Afghanistan as the former government collapsed....
For fishermen along Pakistan’s southwestern coast, the consequences of the U.S.-Iran conflict are being felt far from the battlefield....
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled or rerouted at Catania Airport over the past week as ash from Mount Etna’s ongoing eruption continues to disrupt air travel in Sicily.
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz remains under its control, rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim of “total control” over the strategic waterway and insisting it will not reopen until Washington fulfils its commitments under an interim deal.
The U.S. will impose unprecedented measures on Iran in order to economically isolate the country, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said.
Wildfires across England and Wales have reached their highest level on record, according to the National Fire Chiefs Council, as firefighters struggle to contain outbreaks following a spell of extreme heat.
U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to make the Strait of Hormuz part of U.S. territory have been mocked by Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, who said the sea passage "cannot be seized by tweet."
Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised deepening ties with North Korea, saying Moscow and Pyongyang are coordinating their efforts to ensure “regional security and stability”.
Russia and Ukraine traded large-scale overnight attacks targeting energy, industrial and military facilities on Saturday, with a three-month-old baby killed and 11 people injured in a Russian drone strike on a residential building in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region.
At least 47 people have been killed after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off eastern Indonesia early on Saturday, triggering small tsunami waves and dozens of aftershocks, officials say.
Jason Arday, the former University of Cambridge professor at the centre of a plagiarism row, has been found dead. He was appointed Cambridge's youngest ever Black professor in 2023, but quit on 5 August, after being accused of lifting passages from his PhD from the work of other academics.
Wildfires across England and Wales have reached their highest level on record, according to the National Fire Chiefs Council, as firefighters struggle to contain outbreaks following a spell of extreme heat.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment