Netflix’s Skywalkers: A Love Story documents real-life couple Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, the Empire State Building climbers who staged a daring rooftop proposal.
It was a Wednesday afternoon in New York City that no one would soon forget. On July 1, 2026, two masked figures were spotted scaling the spire of the Empire State Building, climbing nearly 1,500 feet above the streets of Manhattan without ropes or safety gear.
As stunned onlookers watched and police helicopters circled, the duo unfurled a black banner bearing the words: “When the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace.” But the spectacle didn’t end there. After descending to a lower platform, the male climber got down on one knee and proposed. The answer was yes, and the couple embraced at the top of one of the world’s most iconic landmarks before being taken into police custody.
The daredevils were soon identified as Angela Nikolau, 33, and Ivan “Vanya” Beerkus, 32 – a Russian couple known globally for their death-defying rooftopping stunts. Their romance, already the subject of the 2024 Netflix documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story, had just reached a breathtaking new chapter. But for Nikolau and Beerkus, this was not merely a publicity stunt; it was the ultimate expression of a relationship built on trust, risk, and an unyielding desire to live – and love – on the edge.
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A Romance Written in the Sky
“When you fell, I lifted you. When I fell, you lifted me.”
Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus climbing the second-tallest building in the world in SKYWALKERS: A LOVE STORY (2024). pic.twitter.com/AJNc6A2QRe
— Netflix (@netflix) July 1, 2026
Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus didn’t meet at a coffee shop or a mutual friend’s party. Their love story was forged on skyscrapers. Nikolau, a former gymnast and the daughter of circus performers, was the less experienced of the two when they met. She looked up to Beerkus, a self-proclaimed “rooftopper” who had built a massive online following by scaling some of the world’s tallest structures without safety gear. Their bond deepened during a 2016 trip to climb the Goldin Finance 117 in Tianjin, China, and their relationship became inseparable from their high-risk profession.
The 2024 documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story captured the essence of their partnership, following them as they navigated their dangerous work while building mutual trust – and occasionally arguing while hanging off the side of a skyscraper. Their most ambitious feat before the Empire State climb was scaling Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, the world’s second-tallest building, to perform an acrobatic stunt. For them, love and risk were always intertwined.
The Empire State of Mind
Netflix Skywalkers stars climbed to the top of the Empire State Building together with a banner
Ivan Beerkus then proceeded to propose to Angela Nikolau before both were arrested pic.twitter.com/moK0wumgeq
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) July 1, 2026
The Empire State Building climb was both a political statement and a deeply personal moment. The couple’s banner, quoting Jimi Hendrix, called for peace in a world often consumed by power struggles. But the real message came when Beerkus pulled out a selfie stick and proposed. Photos later shared on Nikolau’s Instagram showed the couple from dizzying heights, including close-ups of the engagement ring against the New York City skyline.
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Their stunt, however, did not go unpunished. The New York Police Department took the couple into custody without incident, and they now face criminal trespassing charges. An Empire State Building spokesperson emphasized that there was never any danger to tenants or visitors, while also noting that the observation deck “does offer a practical way for the most memorable marriage proposals”. Criticism was swift, with some calling the act “performative” and “egregious”. Yet for Nikolau and Beerkus, this was simply the latest chapter in a love story that has always defied gravity – and convention.
