Who Are Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau, the Daredevil Couple Behind the Empire State Building Proposal?
The climbing duo is currently in police custody following the unauthorized stunt.
by Kyla Villena
Published on Jul 2, 2026
New York City witnessed an unusual scene on Wednesday afternoon, July 1 (EDT), as a masked couple climbed the Empire State Building. Atop the nearly 1,500-foot-tall structure, they unveiled a powerful message of peace—and got engaged, too.
About half an hour later, the pair climbed down from the spire onto a perch. There, one of them dropped to one knee and proposed. They descended roughly 10 minutes later. According to Al Jazeera, the two were arrested after pulling off the stunt.
The couple has since been identified as Ivan "Vanya" Beerkus and Angela Nikolau, two rooftoppers who have spent years scaling dizzying heights around the world. Learn more about the daring climbers below.
Who Are Ivan “Vanya” Beerkus and Angela Nikolau? 5 Things About the Climbing Duo
Ivan and Angela are 32 and 33 years old, respectively.
The couple hails from Russia and has an age gap of just one year. Angela is a former gymnast and the daughter of circus performers. When they met, Ivan had more experience with death-defying climbs, inspiring Angela to follow in his footsteps.
They are notoriously known as rooftoppers.
As rooftoppers, Ivan and Angela travel the world to scale dangerous heights, whether on skyscrapers, landmarks, or cranes, and they do so without ropes or other safety gear. They have built a following online by documenting their adventures and the views revealed by their mostly illegal climbs.
In an interview with BBC, Angela expressed, “Rooftopping is my art form.” She continued, “It motivated me that I have been the first woman doing it, and I was always interested in doing something new in the art space. Every time we set up an image, we develop it as a piece of art. I choose the colours and what I will wear. Ivan chooses where the drones will fly and how the image will be shot. We perform a painting in the air every time we do it.”
Ivan, being a musician, has also shared numerous videos of himself performing his music atop these towering heights.
They have climbed some of the world’s tallest buildings.
It was only a matter of time before Ivan and Angela took on the Empire State Building. In fact, it isn't the tallest structure they've climbed. They previously scaled China's 1,957-foot Goldin Finance 117, the country's tallest unfinished skyscraper, and Malaysia's 2,227-foot Merdeka 118, the world's second-tallest building.
They have been together since 2016.
Ivan and Angela's romance began blossoming in 2016 while en route to the aforementioned Goldin Finance 117 in Tianjin, China. As rooftoppers, much of their success is rooted in the trust they place in one another while navigating such high-risk situations.
They starred in a Netflix documentary.
In 2024, the streaming platform Netflix released the documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story. Undeniably stomach-churning, the film follows not only the couple's climbs but also their relationship, tracing their teenage years and the beginnings of their shared passion for climbing.
The documentary also explores the couple's individual identities. In it, Ivan says, “The higher I went, the easier it was to breathe,” describing thrill-seeking as an intrinsic part of who he is. Jeff Zimbalist, who co-directed the film with Maria Bukhonina, told BBC that it is ultimately a story about the fear of falling in love rather than falling from great heights, given that Angela was abandoned by her father and frequently struggles to trust others, including Ivan.
“There's a wish fulfillment in watching humans push boundaries in ways that blow our mind. It's inspiring. But we didn't want to focus on this as a vertigo-inducing spectacle, we wanted to direct it towards the fear of falling in love and what that means,” said Jeff.
Kyla Villena loves a good lip gloss and a trip to the art gallery. She is Preview's beauty girl, who doubles as a self-proclaimed motivational speaker.