masked couple – Two people were arrested on July 1 after reaching the top of the Empire State Building, displaying a banner and appearing to stage a proposal. Charges are pending, access to the spire is unknown, and security experts say the incident is likely to trigger a rev
The night air above Manhattan had a new kind of drama on July 1: two masked climbers reached the top of the Empire State Building, lingered there for several minutes, and then came back down as New York City police moved in.
The pair were arrested after displaying a banner and appearing to stage a proposal atop the 1,454-foot skyscraper. For several minutes, they were on the building’s highest point before descending and being taken into custody. Charges are pending. and it is not known how they gained entry to the Empire State Building’s spire and antenna.
An Empire State Building spokesperson said the incident was “unauthorized” and that it has been resolved with coordination of the New York Police Department. The spokesperson also said there was no threat to tenants, visitors, and Empire State Building Observation Deck guests.
The climbers, who identified themselves on social media, are Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus. Their names put the episode into a small and recognizable club of real-life daredevils who have scaled the building—especially the spire—alongside its most famous cultural reference.
It’s hard to talk about climbing the Empire State Building without also talking about King Kong. The fictional gorilla first appeared atop the skyscraper in a 1933 film. and the choice of the same skyline has a kind of cinematic inevitability. Still, what happened on July 1 wasn’t scripted—it ended in police custody.
Brian Higgins. a lecturer at the City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former Bergen County police chief who runs a security firm. said unauthorized climbs create immediate safety risks. He warned that the danger isn’t limited to the climbers themselves; if someone falls. people below are at risk too. In his view. the building’s security measures will likely be reviewed. especially to determine how access to the spire was possible.
That prospect may be sobering for anyone hoping to attempt a repeat. Higgins said he suspects it will be even more difficult to climb the Empire State Building after the July 1 incident.
The story sits inside a broader record of daring attempts. In 1994, French climber Alain Robert—dubbed the “French Spider-Man”—illegally scaled the Empire State Building, according to Guinness World Records. Guinness ranks him as having climbed the most buildings and notes the amount of jail time he has had for the climbs.
More recently, in 2023, actor Jared Leto became the first person to legally scale the Empire State Building. The building’s website said he climbed from the 86th-floor observatory and reached the 104th floor to perform a song with his brother.
Even with that history. the Empire State Building remains a place people do not typically scale—particularly compared with other high-profile structures like the Burj-Khalifa. the world’s tallest building. The Empire State Building is still iconic in movies. art. and architecture. and it is now the sixth-tallest building in the United States and the fourth-tallest in New York City.
The sequence from summit to police custody. then to a security review. is what makes July 1 feel like a turning point rather than a stunt. Once access to the spire and antenna is in question. the next question becomes harder: how did two people get there in the first place—and what will change so they can’t do it again.
Empire State Building Nikolau Beerkus masked couple New York City police spire antenna daredevil climbing security review Brian Higgins John Jay College Alain Robert Jared Leto
So they just… climbed up and got down? wild.
I’m sorry but if you can reach the top, you can probably get into the spire too. Like how else did they do it? Also the proposal thing is kinda cute though, until it’s not.
This is literally King Kong vibes but real life. I don’t even get why they didn’t just do it at the observation deck like everyone else. “No threat” yeah right, they’re literally on the antenna.
Empire State let them in or had to know, because otherwise how would they even access the spire/antenna part? The article says it’s resolved with the NYPD but charges pending usually means they’ll get some slap on the wrist. I feel bad for tenants if there was ever any risk, like security on that building is a joke. Also why were they masked? hiding from the King Kong police?