Empire State Building climbers arrested after ‘marriage proposal’ stunt atop New York landmark

Empire State Building climbers were arrested after scaling the iconic New York skyscraper, displaying a world peace banner before the stunt reportedly turned into a marriage proposal.

Two people were arrested after they climbed the New York City Empire State Building on Wednesday and unfurled a large banner urging world peace, and the stunt apparently turned into a “marriage proposal”.

The pair, dressed in black outfits, climbed to the top of the skyscraper’s antenna spire, where the red light was glowing, which is around 1,454 feet above the sidewalk of midtown Manhattan, Reuters reported.

Proposal atop the Empire State Building? pic.twitter.com/ngV2b5eaZr

— CSPAN (@cspan) July 1, 2026

The black coloured banner with all capital white letters appeared to read: “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace.”

The couple began to climb after 12:30pm (local time) and picked their way up along the latticework of metal to a wider ledge, where one of the them appeared to get down on knee and propose marriage to the other, reports stated.

BREAKING: Two people have climbed to the top of the Empire State Building in New York City, holding a banner from the skyscraper’s antenna reading, “When the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace.”

As of now it’s unclear how the pair reached the top of the… pic.twitter.com/rUPZ6nc1eK

— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 1, 2026

The pair then kissed and the other person stretched left hand to click selfies before continuing to descend from the skyscraper. It remains unclear how the pair gained access to antenna, which is a 102-storey building.

The New York Police Department took the custody of the two climbers after 1pm (local time), but their identities were not released. Police added that no one was injured in the act.

A spokesperson for the New York Police Department said the episode was “still developing” and the department had “nothing to add”, Reuters reported.

(with inputs from agencies)

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