A couple have been arrested after climbing the Empire State Building in what appeared to be a marriage proposal.
The pair, identified as Russian climbers Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, wore black clothing and masks while unfurling a banner that read: “When the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace.”
After spending several minutes on the antenna at the top of the 1,454-foot (443-meter) New York building, they climbed down to a lower section, where one of them got down on one knee in what appeared to be a proposal.
Police body camera footage showed an officer speaking to the couple, who did not appear to be wearing safety harnesses, and telling them, “You can’t be up here.”
A voice off-camera then replied with what sounded like, “We are engaged.”
Moments later, officers reached a landing inside the antenna and met the couple as they came down a ladder, calmly speaking with police, according to the video.
It was not immediately clear how they accessed the Empire State Building’s antenna, which is far above the public areas of the 102-story building.
A spokesperson for the building said the stunt was “unauthorized” but did not endanger anyone in the skyscraper.
Onlookers watched the incident unfold from the streets below, with witness Jonathan Roman saying, “It’s crazy, it’s like being in the movies.”
Climbers have scaled the antenna and other parts of the Empire State Building before, but most of those cases were also unauthorized.
In 2023, actor and musician Jared Leto became the first person to legally climb the structure, according to its website.
Leto was allowed to climb to the base of the antenna from the 86th floor as part of a promotion for the 2024 world tour of his band, 30 Seconds to Mars.
