Marriage proposal at a height of 440 meters: Extreme athletes illegally climb to the top of the Empire State Building.Image: keystone
Two professional facade climbers have conquered the world-famous Empire State Building in New York and got engaged at the top. As the US broadcaster CNN reports, the illegal stunt was planned down to the last detail: the couple disguised themselves as construction workers, bypassed several security barriers and used an unlocked hatch on the 104th floor.
July 3, 2026, 8:15 p.mJuly 3, 2026, 8:15 p.m
The spectacular ascent of Russian extreme climbers Angelina Nikolau and Ivan Kuznetsov raises unpleasant questions for the skyscraper’s safety management. According to investigative reports from CNN The action was not a spontaneous idea, but the result of weeks of espionage and meticulous preparation.
The two climbers, who are already known from the Netflix documentary “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” gained access via the building’s regular loading zones. Dressed in fake safety vests, construction helmets and custom-fit ID placards, they perfectly disguised themselves as part of an external maintenance team. They managed to pass the first security checks on the ground floor unnoticed and use the freight elevators.
An open hatch and disabling the alarms
The critical part of the plan began on the upper floors, strictly closed to the public. To reach the top of the tower, Nikolau and Kuznetsov had to overcome several locked security doors. They reportedly used manipulated keycards to defeat the electronic locks on floors 86 to 102.
On the 104th floor – directly below the massive transmitting antenna – the climbers finally came across a technical maintenance hatch that was unlocked for short-term work. From there the path to the unprotected scaffolding of the approximately 440 meter high antenna was clear. The couple also took advantage of the fact that the motion detectors in this area were temporarily deactivated due to ongoing renovations.
They unrolled a peace banner at the top of the skyscraper’s needle before Kuznetsov proposed to his partner just above the abyss. The New York police only became aware when the antenna’s on-board surveillance cameras finally raised an alarm. For safety reasons, the emergency services had to reduce the power supply to the transmitter system before they were able to intercept the couple as they descended and arrested them for serious trespassing. (mke)