Couple behind Empire State Building proposal revealed as daredevils who starred in Netflix documentary
The couple who hit headlines after scaling the Empire State Building to get engaged have been identified as a pair of ‘rooftoppers’ who once starred in a Netflix documentary.
The duo have revealed themselves to be Ivan 'Vanya' Beerkus and Angela Nikolau, who featured in the 2024 documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story.
The pair donned black outfits and carried a banner reading ‘When the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace’ - a quote that is often attributed to Jimi Hendrix, though it is also credited to 19th century Prime Minister William Gladstone.
Video footage shared online showed the couple perched on the ledge of the building more than 1,400 feet above the streets of New York before he seemingly popped the question.
Advert
New York Police Department has not confirmed any names, but following the stunt, both Beerkus and Nikolau shared several images with the caption: "Empire State Building, New York," including one of the moment Beerkus got down on one knee and another of Nikolau’s hand complete with a huge diamond engagement ring.
The lovebirds appeared in Skywalkers: A Love Story that was released on Netflix in July 2024 and featured heart-stopping footage of the couple on some of their most extreme climbs.
It also documented them gearing up to climb Malaysia’s Merdeka 118 super-skyscraper.
"There’s a danger to romance," documentary co-director Jeff Zimbalist told Netflix’s Queue in 2024.
"It crushes us. It breaks our hearts. It breaks our hopes. Here, that danger is material. If the love falls apart, if the trust falls apart, it’s life or death. That felt like such a potent way of taking this amorphous sense that we all have in our romance and externalising it and making it tangible."
According to Deadline today’s stunt was not being filmed for a new show and had no connection to Netflix.
Although Netflix did take the opportunity to promote the movie, with a cheeky post on X.
Meanwhile, bodycam footage was shared by Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch online, with the caption: "A glimpse into the work of our Emergency Service Unit.
"God bless these officers."
In total, the couple reportedly spent around half an hour on top of the Empire State Building during today’s attention-grabbing stunt.
A spokesperson for the Empire State Building told The New York Post: "The unauthorised incident at the building has been resolved with the constructive and helpful coordination of the NYPD. There was at no time danger to tenants, visitors, and Empire State Building Observation Deck guests."
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said that the couple have left the owners of the iconic building in a ‘tough spot’.
He told CNN: "They are going to have to do whatever they can to see that these people are prosecuted for any appropriate charges, because they cannot take the chance that others will see this and decide to also try it.
"The last thing that people who are responsible for the Empire State Building want is to turn this place into a target for that sort of activity, because ultimately it will end in some sort of tragedy. The danger here, the recklessness, is obvious and can’t be overstated."
As for the couple themselves, a New York City Police Department spokesperson confirmed that they had been taken into custody and that potential charges were pending.
Topics: US News
Claire Reid