Two people scaled the Empire State Building’s antenna on Wednesday, unfurled a banner near the top, appeared to get engaged on a narrow ledge, and were arrested on their way back down, according to reporting by the Associated Press published in the Brooklyn Eagle.
News helicopter footage showed the pair balanced on a ledge near the tip of the antenna, which rises 1,454 feet above Midtown Manhattan. They were dressed in black, wearing masks, and appeared to have no safety tethers. From there they unfurled a banner that read “when the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace,” according to AP.
They then began climbing down to a wider ledge, where one appeared to set up photography equipment and got down on one knee. After the pair kissed and hugged, the other person took selfies with an outstretched left hand, as if examining a ring. When Police Emergency Services Unit officers climbed up the antenna’s latticework to intercept them, an off-camera voice replied with what sounded like, “We are engaged.”
Police body camera footage showed an officer greeting the pair and explaining, “Well, you can’t be up here.” The two climbers came down a ladder calmly and spoke with officers. They were taken into custody after 1 p.m., AP reported. Their names were not immediately released and no one was injured, police said.
The building was temporarily blocked off during the response, stranding visitors who had tickets to the observation deck. Jonathan Roman, a tourist visiting from Glasgow, Scotland, arrived with his 15-year-old son to find the entrance closed. “It’s crazy – it’s like being in the movies,” Roman told AP. The spectacle was “probably more exciting than going up to the viewing platform for the second time,” he said.
Office workers in the building questioned how the pair got past security. The Empire State Building’s rules bar visitors from bringing in large packages, sports equipment, costumes, and masks, among other items. “I just can’t believe they made it through security,” said Jessica Kaplan, who works at a company with offices in the building. Empire State Building management issued a statement calling the episode “unauthorized” and said it did not endanger anyone inside the building. Management did not answer questions from AP about how the two reached the antenna or what contact, if any, they had with security workers.
This is not the first unauthorized ascent of the building, AP noted. Daredevils have climbed the antenna and other parts of the building before. Actor and musician Jared Leto was permitted to climb to the base of the antenna from the 86th floor in 2023 to promote a tour.
Featured image: Photo: WABC-TV via AP
