Empire State Climbers

Two people climbed the Empire State Building in early July in an effort to offer a marriage proposal that resulted in both getting arrested.

At 5 a.m. Wednesday morning, a security camera caught them going through a hatch on the 102 floor, a source told ABC News. The lock on the security door on floor 104 was also broken.

On Tuesday June 30Angela Nikolau, 33, and Ivan Kuznetsov, 32, bought tickets and entered the building and stayed overnight. 

Many people wonder how Nikolau and Kuznetsov were able to stay overnight without security noticing. The couple entered the building as visitors, buying tickets to the open-air observatory on the 86th floor at 9:00 PM, just two hours before access was closed off.

NYPD officers were placed all over NYC for the World Cup, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding, and many festivities celebrating America's 250th anniversary. So how did no one notice them? 

Security cameras caught Nikolau and Kuznetsov As the suspects into a maintenance closet just before visitor access was closed off. No wwwww we

Q 5:00 AM security cameras first captured them emerging through a hatch onto the 102nd floor observation deck. At  12:00 PM the first 911 calls reporting them climbing the outdoor broadcast antenna came in seconds after noon.

When they got to the top of the building they stayed up there for an hour while the NYPD was trying to shut off the antenna. The NYPD were shutting it off because it emits dangerous and harmful radio frequencies. This required a 30-minute waiting period before the NYPD Emergency Service Unit could go up to arrest them.  

In the 30 minute waiting period Ivan Kuznetsov proposed to Angela Nikolau. After the proposal, Angela Nikolau posted on Instagram a photo of her ring above the city. After proposing the couple was seen holding a flag that said, “When the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace.” 

However, Nikolau’s father Dimitry Nikolau claims that this whole thing was a stunt and they are already married. 

They shouldn’t go to jail but they should have to pay for what they broke and do community service, NHS junior Emma Riner said. 

In 2018 a woman that climbed the Statue of Liberty. She didn’t get jail time however, was sentenced with 5 years probation and 200 hours of community service.