Rooftoppers Ivan Kuznetsov and Angelina Nikolau Arrested After Empire State Building Banner Stunt

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Ivan Kuznetsov, 32, and Angelina Nikolau, 33, climbed the antenna of the Empire State Building around midday on Wednesday, July 1, 2026. CBS identified the Russian rooftoppers by the alternate names Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau and said they lived in East Orange, New Jersey. From the top, they unfurled a black banner reading, “WHEN THE POWER OF LOVE BEATS THE LOVE OF POWER THE WORLD KNOWS PEACE.” CBS News and Global News reported that the building temporarily shut down the antenna while emergency crews responded. The pair also appeared to become engaged during the climb, an account CBS framed as apparent rather than definitively established. After Kuznetsov and Nikolau descended, New York police took both into custody. They were accused of burglary, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief, with criminal trespass also reported among the pending allegations. The charges describe what authorities alleged after the climb; they are not convictions. The two accessible reports establish the banner, descent and arrests, but do not explain precisely how the pair reached the antenna or give a final court outcome. For all the spectacle at the top, the concrete aftermath on the ground was conventional: police custody and a set of unresolved criminal allegations.