Love Reaches New Heights

 Empire State Romance

What’s your idea of a romantic proposal? Flowers, champagne, fancy dinner? How about paying the kiss cam operator at a ball game? All fabulous ideas but they pale in comparison to the escapades of a daredevil couple who climbed 1454ft of New York’s Empire State Building to unfurl a giant flag on Wednesday 1st July. The banner read “When the power of love beats the love of power the ‌world knows peace.” It was at that moment that Ivan Kusnetsov (32) proposed to Angela Nikolau (33).

A dramatic recreation of the flag unfurling and proposal

Ivan, known as ‘@beerkus’ and his girlfriend Angela are Russian nationals who live together in New Jersey and share pictures and videos of their “rooftopping” exploits sometimes with a political agenda, but sometimes just for fun, were arrested and charged with reckless stupidity as well as a bunch of other crimes linked to their exploits.

The couple were released on July 2nd after being arraigned in the New York City criminal courthouse in Manhattan. Meanwhile a spokesperson for the Empire State Building said, “We have a perfectly adequate observation deck which would have been ideal for a marriage proposal, or at least a hapless romantic gesture like ‘An Affair to Remember’ or ‘Sleepless in Seattle’”

The engagement ring with New York City in the background

I stole this picture of the engagement ring from the internet, assuming it came from one of the climber’s social media shares, and the first thing I noticed was how pretty her nails are. Not only did she climb and up to the top of the Empire State Building, and get engaged, she did not chip, scuff or break a nail in the process.

The escapade was captured by a news helicopter and police drones, so their plan to join the 1/4 mile high club was thwarted.

What do you think of this pair? Are they modern day heroes or villains? Should they be allowed to get away with this dangerous trespassing and causing criminal damage, or should they be charged and face jail time or deportation? Share below in the comments.