Angela Nikolau and Ivan “Vanya” Beerkus, the real-life daredevils at the center of the Netflix documentary “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” marked their latest high-altitude adventure with an engagement at the top of the Empire State Building on Wednesday, July 1.
The pair reached a small platform near the top of the Manhattan landmark without ropes or harnesses, where Beerkus, 32, proposed to Nikolau, 33, before the couple descended to the building’s observation deck and then to the ground, according to video widely shared by Eyewitness News ABC7NY and other television stations across the country.
A spokesperson for the Empire State Building said in a statement to ABC, “there was at no time danger to tenants, visitors, and Empire State Building Observation Deck guests,” and emphasized that the observatory “does offer a practical way for the most memorable marriage proposals.”
ABC also reported that New York Police Department officers met the pair after they came down and placed them into custody because the climb was not authorized.
A Proposal on the City’s Highest Ledge
The climb played out in full view of cameras and police response in Midtown Manhattan as the couple perched near the top of the 102-story skyscraper for about 30 minutes.
Nikolau and Beerkus, who have built an international audience by scaling some of the world’s tallest skyscrapers without safety equipment, unfurled a banner during the ascent that read, “When the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace.”
After Beerkus proposed on a narrow platform near the top, the couple made their way down to the Empire State Building’s observation deck, where he appeared to drop to one knee again before they continued inside and eventually to street level.
Nikolau later posted photographs of the engagement on Instagram, including a close-up image of her ring, turning the high-stakes stunt into a shareable moment for hundreds of thousands of followers who have watched the couple’s climbs around the world.
Despite occurring around the same time as their recent global visibility on Netflix, sources have told Deadline that the ascent of the Empire State Building was not linked to the streaming service and was not filmed for a new project, according to information released after the climb.
From Global Rooftops to Manhattan
Nikolau and Beerkus rose to international prominence when “Skywalkers: A Love Story” premiered on Netflix in July 2024. The documentary follows them as they prepare to illegally scale Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the world’s second-tallest building, without ropes or harnesses and perform an acrobatic stunt at its summit.
Netflix describes the film as the story of “two real-life daredevils who test the limits of their love and trust by illegally scaling one of the world’s tallest buildings to perform an acrobatic stunt.” The documentary weaves together scenes of physical training, planning, and travel with glimpses into how each of them came to embrace a life at extreme heights.
Nikolau traces her comfort with risk and spectacle to her childhood. In the documentary, she recalls growing up as the daughter of circus performers and credits that world with shaping her sense of freedom and possibility. She says that her parents did not have many material resources, but that “seeing that passion, that freedom was magical.”
For Beerkus, climbing buildings became a deeply personal practice as well as a performance. In the film, he describes feeling more at ease the higher he goes, explaining that “the higher I went, the easier it was to breathe” and characterizing what he calls an “expanded state of mind” at altitude as essential for him.
The couple has often presented their climbs as a kind of art form. In a 2025 Instagram post, Nikolau referred to their shared practice as both “a ritual” and “a performance where fear becomes part of the art,” adding that “we don’t go up for the view, we go up for freedom.”
Romance and Responsibility at Landmarks
The Empire State Building remains one of New York City’s most closely watched landmarks, with strict rules governing access to its upper reaches. The couple’s decision to climb outside those channels brought an immediate response from law enforcement and building officials.
ABC reported that officers with the New York Police Department took Nikolau and Beerkus into custody after they came down from the observation deck because their climb had not been authorized. Information about any potential charges was not included in statements released Wednesday.
The couple’s banner, invoking love, power and peace, and their public engagement added a romantic frame to a sequence that also raised familiar questions about safety, security and responsibility at world-famous structures. For viewers who came to know Nikolau and Beerkus through Netflix, the Empire State Building climb extended a narrative already built on images of the pair balanced on cranes, spires, and ledges far above city streets. The engagement turned that shared pursuit into a formal commitment that, like their previous feats, unfolded in front of cameras and a global audience.
After years of scaling some of the world’s tallest structures together and sharing that story with viewers, Nikolau and Beerkus’s latest ascent ended with an engagement and became intertwined with some of the most recognizable skylines on earth.
