![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/two-people-stand-on-the-tip-of-the-antenna-of-the-empire-sta-EGXAV27VFJB7FNE5HTK6ZXAVOQ.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTwo people scaled the Empire State Building’s antenna today and unfurled a banner about \u201cthe power of love\u201d, apparently as part of an audacious, high-altitude marriage proposal \u2014 soon followed by their arrest.<\/p>\n
Dressed in black and wearing masks \u2014 but not tethers, it appeared \u2014 the two balanced on a narrow ledge and appeared to kiss atop the New York skyscraper’s antenna, news helicopter video showed. The banner, reading \u201cwhen the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace,\u201d waved from the structure, which rises 443 metres above midtown Manhattan.<\/p>\n
After lingering for a time, the two collected the banner and began to climb down, picking their way along the latticework of metal to a wider ledge, where one seemed to set up a piece of photography equipment and got down on one knee. After the two kissed again and hugged, the other person took selfies with an outstretched left hand, as if examining a ring.<\/p>\n
Police Emergency Services Unit officers started ascending a ladder in the spindly structure to intercept them. Police body camera video showed an officer calling out a greeting and explaining, \u201cwell, you can’t be up here\u201d.<\/p>\n
An off-camera voice replied with what sounded like, \u201cWe are engaged\u201d.<\/p>\n
A few seconds later, officers reached a landing within the antenna and met the couple, who were coming down a ladder and calmly spoke with police, the video showed.<\/p>\n
Police took the two climbers into custody after 1pm (local time). Their names weren’t immediately released. No one was injured, police said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Two people stand on the tip of the antenna of the Empire State Building in New York while holding a banner. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
Onlookers gaped from the sidewalks near the Art Deco office tower.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s crazy \u2014 it’s like being in the movies,\u201d said Jonathan Roman, a tourist visiting from the Scottish city of Glasgow. He and his 15-year-old son had tickets to go up to one of the observation platforms but arrived to find the building blocked off because of the antenna activity.<\/p>\n
Still, the spectacle was \u201cprobably more exciting than going up to the viewing platform for the second time,\u201d Roman reasoned.<\/p>\n
Office workers wondered how the pair managed to get to the antenna of a high-profile building where visitors are screened and told not to bring large packages, sports equipment, costumes or masks, among other items.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just can\u2019t believe they made it through security,\u201d said Jessica Kaplan, who works at a company with offices in the building.<\/p>\n
It wasn’t clear how the pair gained access to the antenna, which rises well above public areas of the 102-story building. The management said in a statement that the episode was \u201cunauthorised\u201d and didn’t endanger anyone in the building. The management didn’t answer questions about how the two reached the antenna and what interactions, if any, they had with security workers.<\/p>\n
Daredevils have previously climbed the antenna and other parts of the Empire State Building. Those ascents have largely been unauthorised, but actor and musician Jared Leto was allowed to climb up to the base of the antenna from the 86th floor in 2023 to promote a tour.<\/p>\n
The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including weather watches in force, and the GOAT makes a comeback. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two people scaled the Empire State Building’s antenna today and unfurled a banner about \u201cthe power of love\u201d,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[67,42,43,64,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-505605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-north-america","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}