The death-defying couple who scaled the Empire State Building in Midtown shared a passionate kiss in front of news cameras moments after leaving court Thursday.
Angela (Angelina) Nikolau, 33, and Ivan Beerkus (Kuznetsov), 32, rushed out of 100 Center Street on July 2 after being brought before a judge and granted supervised release. The pair held hands as they rushed through the streets and were given chase by members of the press eager to know their motivation for the climb that ultimately ended up in a marriage proposal.
“We believe in the power of love,” Beerkus said of the banner they unfurled from the iconic spire that spread a message of a love for the entire world to see. “It was cold up there.”
“People were nice there,” Beerkus went on to say about his time in lockup. “Police are nice.”
The couple fled to the subway station at Foley Square where, before they dispersed underground, they shared a passionate kiss surrounded by journalists.
This comes after they somehow breached the spire on the 105th floor at 20 West 34th St. about 11:15 a.m. on July 1 and ascended the needle. Wearing masks and black clothing, the daredevils got to the top of the needle, some 1,500 feet above the ground, and unfurled a black-and-white banner reading, “If the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”
Later the pair stopped at a platform below the needle for a lovestruck moment: TV cameras captured Beerkus getting down on one knee, proposing to his lover. Soon thereafter, cops from the NYPD’s ESU unit took them into custody.
“Well, you can’t be up here,” one of the cops said.
Sources familiar with the investigation report that the Empire State Building shut down the antenna to prevent them from being harmed by radio waves. Although they are no stranger to hights, Nikolau and Beerkus have made high-rise stunts something of a calling; they were featured in the Netflix documentary Skywalkers.
Despite facing criminal charges, including Burglary, Reckless Endangerment, Criminal Mischief, Violation of Local Law, Possession of Burglar’s Tools, Criminal, Tampering, Criminal Trespass, and Disorderly Conduct their Attorney Jason Krinsky said that he believed they are being made an example of.
“Based off my reading of this complaint, the DA’s office overcharged here,” Krinsky said, adding that the pair’s sky scraping message was a positive one. “As far as what I’ve seen, and I’m sure you’ve all seen it, was a message of love, all right. And you know that’s a, that’s a nice thing.”
While Krinsky declined to comment on defense and says he is waiting for more of the proceedings to carry out, he did charge that nobody was injured or in danger of being hurt.
“No one was hurt here. The winds were very low on the day, it was like five to six miles per hour,” Krinsky said, also speaking on the marriage proposal. “Looks like you know she didn’t say no, and everything went well, so that’s very happy. I mean, come on, what a, what a way to propose. something like you could only dream of.”
