The viral Empire State Building climbers have been identified and the stars of Netflix documentary “Skywalkers: A Love Story.”
On Wednesday, New York City residents — and police — became enamored by the two mystery climbers who were spotted scaling the Empire State Building. It turns out that the two were Ivan “Vanya” Beerkus and Angela Nikolau, Russian climbers who were the stars of the 2024 Netflix documentary. Wednesday’s stunt, however, was not affiliated with Netflix, Deadline reports.
According to the couple’s Instagram accounts, the two got engaged at the top of the Empire State Building at the end of their climb. Then they unfurled a flag to make a larger statement for all who were watching – including a number of hovering helicopters.
“When the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace,” a banner the couple held together from the peak of the Empire State Building antenna.
Beerkus and Nikolau spent about half an hour at the top of the building – which they again climbed free of harness or safety measures, before being whisked away into police custody.
“Skywalkers: A Love Story” was acquired by Netflix at Sundance in 2024. The documentary was seven years in the making and chronicled Beerkus and Nikolau’s love story while they journeyed across the globe to climb the world’s last super skyscraper and perform a bold acrobatic stunt on the spire. The duo planned and scaled Malaysia’s 2,227-feet-tall Merdeka Tower. Beerkus and Nikolau spent 30 hours inside the tower hiding from construction crews before they were able to pull off the time and sneak out of the country before they were arrested.
