{"id":6114,"date":"2026-07-01T18:31:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T18:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=6114"},"modified":"2026-07-01T18:31:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T18:31:40","slug":"empire-state-building-climbers-who-are-the-skywalkers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=6114","title":{"rendered":"Empire State Building climbers: Who are the ‘Skywalkers?’"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK<\/strong> – <\/span>The climbers atop the Empire State Building caused quite the spectacle on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>

Read more Empire State Building climbers display quote on banner: What does it say?<\/a><\/p>

But who are they?\u00a0<\/p>

Dig deeper:<\/p>

<\/div>

The man and woman who made a harrowing climb to the top of the Empire State Building in New York City took to their social media accounts to say they were the pair who climbed the building spire.\u00a0 Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, both of whom were the main subjects of a 2024 Netflix documentary titled “Skywalkers: A Love Story.”\u00a0<\/p>

Police have yet to confirm their identities.<\/p>

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n <\/div>

What we know:<\/p>

The incident, which took place around noon, quickly caught the eyes of onlookers below and sparked a frenzy on social media as footage circulated online.<\/p>

Once they reached the top, the duo raised a flag that read, “When the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace.”<\/p>

The climbers began their descent around 12:30 p.m. before one of the climbers appeared to propose to the other on a spire platform. They continued climbing down just before 1 p.m.<\/p>

The NYPD confirms that both individuals were taken into custody after helicopters swarmed the spire and officers climbed to the top themselves.<\/p>

Read more Grocery giant buyout: Kroger agrees to buy family-owned Giant Eagle for $1.25B cash<\/a><\/p>

What we don’t know:<\/p>

It is still unknown how the climbers managed to reach the top of the building. Police say charges are pending, and an investigation is underway.<\/p>

The backstory:<\/p>

The couple participate in an activity known as “rooftopping.”\u00a0<\/p>

This is basically just climbing structures without the use of safety equipment, similar to free-climbing.\u00a0<\/p>

Nikolau and Beerkus are reportedly the most famous “rooftoppers,” according to a BBC report.\u00a0<\/p>

Their most famous climbing event was after they claimed to have illegally entered and climbed the second-tallest building in the world in December 2022, the BBC said.\u00a0<\/p>

Read more Nancy Guthrie: FBI determines ransom notes are fake, report says<\/a><\/p> <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The couple who climbed on top of the Empire State Building are known \u201crooftoppers,” Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nEmpire State Building climbers: Who are the 'Skywalkers?' - Houston Moving Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=6114\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Empire State Building climbers: Who are the 'Skywalkers?' - Houston Moving Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The couple who climbed on top of the Empire State Building are known \u201crooftoppers," Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=6114\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Houston Moving Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-01T18:31:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/8d08d06cc50e7dbefbb16cc1edf0ee02.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"932\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"524\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=6114#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=6114\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e51740aab7bd577378c5f91b003a39ba\"},\"headline\":\"Empire State Building climbers: Who are the ‘Skywalkers?’\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T18:31:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=6114\"},\"wordCount\":340,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=6114#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/75f9498a069e326f28d1397676d6f5e3.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=6114#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=6114\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/houstonmovingjournal.com\\\/?p=6114\",\"name\":\"Empire State Building climbers: Who are the 'Skywalkers?' - 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