Some people buy a ring. Others risk prison. On Wednesday afternoon, Instagram-famous daredevils Angela Nikolau and Ivan Kuznetsov chose the latter, scaling the dizzying heights of the Empire State Building’s spire to stage a vertigo-inducing marriage proposal. They hung a banner. They took selfies. Then, the cops showed up.
The Russian couple, notorious for dangling off skyscrapers for internet clout, now face a laundry list of charges. It was a swift descent from romantic high to legal reality. According to the NYPD, the duo was slapped with burglary, reckless endangerment, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, and possession of burglar’s tools, among other offenses. All for the gram.
Before the handcuffs clicked, the pair managed to unfurl a black banner 1,454 feet above the pavement. It featured a Jimi Hendrix quote about love conquering the love of power. Irony aside, the stunt triggered a massive security response. Police scrambled a helicopter. They evacuated the building’s famous observation deck. Tourists waited. The stuntmen smirked.
Kuznetsov, who goes by Ivan Beerkus online, apparently popped the question right there on the metal rigging. Nikolau later flaunted the ring on social media. This isn’t their first rodeo; they starred in a 2024 Netflix documentary called “Skywalkers: A Love Story” after conquering Malaysia’s Merdeka 118. They live on the edge. Literally.
Management was not amused, though they spun it with corporate sarcasm. A spokesperson for the Empire State Building dryly noted that while their observation deck is indeed a lovely place for a proposal, doing it legally is generally preferred. They also reminded the public that masks and costumes are banned. How the couple bypassed security to scale the live broadcast antenna remains a mystery. The banner was confiscated. The deck reopened. The circus moves to a courtroom.
