Empire State Building climbers arrested after engagement stunt on antenna
A love-and-peace banner, a ring photo and a nearly hour-long climb ended with felony charges after two daredevils scaled the Empire State Building's antenna.
Angela Nikolau and Ivan Kuznetsov were arrested after climbing the Empire State Building’s antenna, unfurling a banner about love and peace, and turning an apparent engagement moment into a felony case. Police identified the pair, who also go by Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, after the stunt drew cameras to one of New York’s most watched rooftops.
Prosecutors said Kuznetsov told police he wanted to do something special for their engagement. Nikolau, who has built an online following around high-rise climbs, also posted an engagement-style ring photo from the scene, a detail that made the spectacle feel designed for the feed as much as for the private story behind it.
By the time the couple appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court on July 2, 2026, the romance narrative had collided with charges carrying serious weight. ABC News reported that Nikolau, 33, and Kuznetsov, 32, both Russians with a current address in East Orange, New Jersey, were charged with multiple felonies, including reckless endangerment and burglary, and were released without entering a plea. Defense attorney Philip J. Krinsky said a plea negotiation could be possible, and ABC News reported that deportation is a concern in the case.
The scale of the stunt sharpened its risk. ABC News said the pair stayed on top of the building for several minutes while cameras rolled, while NBC New York reported they spent nearly an hour at the top before being taken into custody. That is a long time to stand exposed on the Empire State Building’s antenna, particularly on a landmark where visibility is the point and security is the price of admission.
The building itself gave the episode its viral charge. The Empire State Building celebrated its 95th anniversary on May 1, 2026, and its tower lights have been part of the New York skyline since 1976. The current LED system, in place since 2012, can produce more than 16 million colors, a reminder that the city already knows how to stage a dramatic reveal without sending climbers onto steel and stone.
That is why the stunt landed less as a proposal story than as a cautionary one. The details that make engagement coverage resonate are usually smaller and more enduring than a banner on a spire: a ring chosen with care, a place that means something to the couple, a moment that can be remembered without police, court dates or felony counts.
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