New York City residents were surprised to discover two masked individuals scaling the Empire State Building shortly after noon on Wednesday. The New York Police Department confirmed via social media that they closed streets near 5th Avenue and 34th Street in Manhattan during the incident. Officers later took the couple into custody but did not specify charges at the time.
The pair identified themselves online as daredevil climbers Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau from Russia. During their climb, they unfurled a banner reading, “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace.”
A woman named Stephanie Hazelwood shared that rumors circulated about one climber proposing to the other while ascending the building. She described the event as, “I don’t really know exactly what it is. It just seems like an attention thing and art, maybe.”
