#EmpireStateClimbers is the hashtag for the July 1, 2026 stunt in which Russian “rooftopping” duo Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus — the subjects of Netflix’s 2024 documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story — hid inside the Empire State Building overnight, scaled its 102nd-floor antenna at roughly 1,450 feet, unfurled a peace banner reading “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace,” and staged an on-camera marriage proposal at the top. Both were arrested within hours and arraigned the next day on felony charges including burglary and reckless endangerment.
Quick Facts
- Date of stunt: Wednesday, July 1, 2026 (~5 a.m. ET)
- Location: Empire State Building antenna, ~1,450 feet above street level
- Climbers: Angela Nikolau (33) and Ivan Kuznetsov (32), known publicly as Ivan Beerkus
- Banner text: “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace”
- Charges: felony burglary, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief
- Prior media: subjects of the 2024 Netflix documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story
What Happened
Nikolau and Beerkus bought regular tourist tickets to the Empire State Building the day before, then hid inside after closing. According to reporting from CBS New York, security camera footage recorded them going through a hatch on the 102nd floor at around 5 a.m. on July 1. From there they climbed the antenna, unfurled the banner and, at the top, Beerkus dropped to one knee. Nikolau removed her mask and the two embraced and kissed on camera.
Building staff intercepted them on the way down. Both were arrested and, according to ABC News and PBS NewsHour, arraigned the next day on multiple felony charges, then released under court supervision.
CNN’s follow-up feature detailed how the pair had prepared for weeks, mapping the building’s internal choke points and using tourist access to scout hatches.
Reactions
Online
Within hours, “Empire State Building climb” and “power of love banner” clips were among the top-trending on X and TikTok. The footage — filmed by the couple with head-mounted cameras — was posted directly to their own accounts and to the Skywalkers documentary’s channels, then reshared into news aggregators and reaction videos. By July 3, the hashtag had crossed general news coverage, celebrity newsletters, and true-crime and stunt communities.
Legal and institutional
The Empire State Realty Trust condemned the stunt and emphasized that security systems held; both climbers face potential prison time on the burglary count. NYPD statements framed the case as an escalation from earlier rooftopping incidents and warned that copycats would be prosecuted aggressively.
Aftermath
As of the second week of July, the pair remained in New York pending further court dates. Coverage split into two threads: news outlets focused on the felony exposure, while stunt-culture outlets debated whether the banner’s peace framing made the climb a genuine political action or a marketing beat for the couple’s brand.
The 2024 Netflix documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story — which had trended briefly on release — re-entered Netflix’s US Top 10 in the days after the stunt.
Cultural Impact
On rooftopping’s visibility. The stunt collapsed a decade of niche rooftopping culture into a single mainstream news beat. Prior scares — Alain Robert’s climbs, spider-boy incidents on hotel towers — had come and gone; this one had a documentary lineage and a romantic hook that made it stick.
On the “documentary-to-real-life” pipeline. The stunt read to many viewers as an epilogue chapter to a Netflix documentary they’d already watched. Coverage repeatedly framed it as “the Skywalkers couple did it again,” implicitly rewarding the subjects’ documented career of illegal climbs with fresh attention.
On landmark security. The Empire State Realty Trust said it would review overnight-visitor protocols. Similar landmarks in New York, Chicago, and Dubai issued statements about their own procedures.
Variations & Related Tags
- #Skywalkers — the documentary tag re-activated by the stunt
- #EmpireStateBuilding — the landmark hashtag whose feed the story took over
- #Rooftopping — the broader stunt-culture tag
Sources
- https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/03/us/empire-state-building-climbers-stunt
- https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/01/us/empire-state-building-banner
- https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/two-trespassers-climb-top-empire-state-building-rcna352583
- https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/empire-state-building-climbers-banner-nyc/
- https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/an-audacious-climb-turned-into-a-marriage-proposal-the-couple-was-soon-arrested
- https://abcnews.com/US/empire-state-building-climbers-expected-court-thursday/story?id=134401909