Two New Jersey-based “rooftopping” Instagram creators were taken into custody after breaching security at the Empire State Building on Wednesday to unfurl a massive peace banner and stage a marriage proposal from the skyscraper’s antenna spire. The New York Police Department (NYPD) arrested Ivan Beerkus, identified legally as Ivan Kuznetsov, and Angela Nikolau, legally known as Angelina Nikolau, following the midday stunt.

The incident began just before noon when the pair allegedly bypassed building security protocols to enter an off-limits maintenance zone. Preliminary information suggests that the two accessed the exterior through a hatch on the 103rd floor, which is normally reserved for water tower maintenance.

The couple scaled the spindly transmission tower without any visible safety equipment or tether. The couple balanced on a narrow ledge 1,454 feet above midtown Manhattan. This climb apparently triggered multiple 911 calls and alerts to air traffic control, after which an NYPD helicopter was deployed. However, once atop the transmitter, the couple unfurled a black banner that read, “When the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace.”

Furthermore, the NYPD helicopter officer’s bodycam footage captured Beerkus and Nikolau descending to a lower platform on the lattice tower, where he dropped to one knee and proposed to Nikolau. Nikolau accepted the proposal.

While many deemed it a romantic gesture, bystanders labeled it “kind of dangerous.” A witness saw them open a mesh door and thought they were workers.

“I didn’t see if it was locked, I just seen them open the door and hurry up. Along came these two people there and they opened the mesh door and went inside so I assumed that they worked there so nobody stopped them.”

— Eyewitness visitor at the Empire State Building observation deck, Abc7ny

The officer’s bodycam showed they climbed the spire to meet the couple as they descended, having them in custody within an hour, approximately just before 1:00 p.m. The couple faces felony charges of burglary, reckless endangerment, and criminal mischief, along with multiple misdemeanors.

 

Officers believe the pair conducted “surveillance” before the climb, meaning this could not have been a spontaneous act.

“They didn’t just stumble upon that hatch; there is what we’d call pre-observational surveillance, someone cased the joint, if you will, they didn’t just do that today.”

— Greg Sanfilippo, former NYPD sergeant and security expert at Doyle Security Services, Abc7ny

The deduction makes sense as the New Jersey-based couple has previously climbed multiple landmarks like Malaysia’s Merdeka 118, which is the world’s second-tallest building. The creators’ Instagram page is filled with them posing on multiple rooftops, bridges, and more.

The building also prohibits masks and costumes, rules that the climbers appeared to circumvent without detection. Trained employees usually only access the spire at night, when radiation-emitting antennae are turned off. These breaches make the couple’s act even more “disturbing,” said Gregg Sanfilippo, security expert and former NYPD sergeant.

“It’s quite a disturbing breach. This is every corporate real estate’s security team’s worst nightmare, getting access to the roof or ledges of their building.”

— Greg Sanfilippo, former NYPD sergeant and security expert at Doyle Security Services, Abc7ny

Nikolau immediately published polished photographs of her engagement against the Manhattan backdrop on Instagram. The aestheticized thrill of defying death for social media engagement clashes heavily with New York City penal code violations, demonstrating how the thirst for viral prestige can obscure the boundaries of public safety and criminal law. Kuznetsov and Nikolau remain held pending arraignment. It is unclear if the couple has retained legal counsel to answer the felony charges in court.

Disclaimer: Inquisitr individually could not confirm the exact facts regarding how the security breach occurred and is reporting based on the official law enforcement statements and available footage.