Ivan Beerkus — legally identified by New York police as Ivan Kuznetsov — got down on one knee on the Empire State Building's spire on July 1, 2026, after he and his partner had spent time clinging to the antenna nearly 1,454 feet above Midtown. NYPD officers had already climbed up to meet them partway, and the couple was walked into custody just before 1 p.m. after their highly captured Instagram moment. Before any of that, though, came the ring — pulled out on a lower platform as the pair made their descent — and Angela Nikolau's yes.
It was a strange place for a proposal. Given how these two built their relationship, it may also have been the only place that made sense.
