Daredevils Leap Off the Empire State Building, Get Engaged, and Unveil a Flag Reading: “When the Power of Love Conquers the Love of Power, the World Can Find Peace”
Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, the Russian rooftop couple in the 2024 Netflix film “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” climbed to the top of the Empire State Building this morning, dressed in black and wearing helmets and masks.
Atop the Empire State Building in New York City, two people unfurl a banner on July 1, 2026. Photo via REUTERS.
Angela was wearing cat ears. They unveiled a black banner that read “when the power of love exceeds the love of power the world knows peace,” a line often attributed to Jimi Hendrix.
New York’s Empire State Building stands tall in Manhattan on July 1, 2026, after two daredevils made an unauthorized jump. Photo by Adam Gray / REUTERS.
They did it with a 1,454-foot antenna spire, no cables, no harnesses, hundreds of feet above the observation deck. Angela, 33, trained in rhythmic gymnastics from the age of 7 and grew up in a family of circus performers. Ivan, 32, had already climbed the Eiffel Tower and Moscow skyscrapers alone before the two met in 2016 on Goldin Finance 117 in Tianjin, a climb that turned them into lovers.
Passersby near Madison Square Garden crane their necks toward the Empire State Building on July 1, 2026, the day two passengers scaled the skyscraper and unveiled a peace banner at the top. Photo by Timothy A. Clary / AFP via Getty Images.
Angela posted a video from the small area early this morning, with the caption “Currently at the Empire State Building.” Just after 12:30 p.m., they walked down to the wide metal ledge, where Ivan knelt down and pulled out the ring with the city looking up. They kissed at the top. Around 1:00 p.m., they posted photos and videos on Instagram and Facebook posing as climbers.
Atop the Empire State Building in New York City, two people unfurl a banner on July 1, 2026, in still video. Photo via REUTERS.
The Netflix documentary is the reason anyone knows their names. Directed by Jeff Zimbalist, “Skywalkers: A Love Story” premiered at Sundance in January 2024 and hit Netflix that July, opening with a warning that the film contains “highly dangerous and illegal activities.”
Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau step out together for the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of their Netflix documentary at AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York City on June 12, 2024. Photo by Jason Mendez / Getty Images.
It culminates with the 2,200-foot spire of Merdeka 118 in Malaysia, a climb that took more than 30 hours and required them to hide from construction workers for a full day. The film reached the top ten in more than a dozen countries and left an important question: can two people build a life together when one mistake kills them both?
A banner is unfurled atop the Empire State Building in New York City on July 1, 2026, as two people protest at the iconic landmark. Photo by Adam Gray / Reuters.
After their release, they moved to New York. Angela began to draw. Ivan started making music. They own an online pet products store and told Netflix’s Tudum that they were “living the dream” and had started “believing in magic.” Asked when they will stop climbing, Angela said “when I’m 75.”
A helicopter passes over the Empire State Building in New York City on July 1, 2026, the same day two passengers boarded the iconic skyscraper and unveiled a peace banner near its summit. Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP via Getty Images.At the top of the Empire State Building’s spire on July 1, 2026, two climbers unfurl a banner with a message of peace in New York City. Photo by Timothy A. Clary / AFP via Getty Images.
They have been picked up before, at Notre Dame and after Merdeka 118, and they hid from security for over 30 hours on the way to the summit. The fame from the film made it difficult. They are now known and banned on some European sites, and they continue anyway.
The NYPD took them into custody after they got off. Charges are pending.
At the AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York City, Maria Bukhonina, Ivan Beerkus, and Angela Nikolau attended the June 12, 2024, Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Netflix’s Skywalkers: A Love Story. Photo by Jason Mendez/Getty Images.
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