In a wild and dangerous scene, two people — it looks like a man and a woman — climbed to the top of the spire on New York City’s iconic Empire State Building Wednesday and unfurled a banner reading "When the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace." Both are wearing black and have donned masks. It’s unclear how they got up there and why they weren't stopped by security.
The building spire is 1,454 feet above the ground. An NYPD helicopter is on scene, while the building's observation deck has been cleared.
HAPPENING NOW: Two people have climbed to the top of the Empire State Building and unfurled a flag on top of its spire.
— ABC News (@ABC) July 1, 2026
The unidentified people appear to be wearing masks.
ABC News' Aaron Katersky reports. https://t.co/UXGzh22MoB pic.twitter.com/WDeFPTGn37
Bananas.
The Empire State Building opened in May 1931. Can’t imagine the builders thought they’d be witnessing this scene. Although it may be a form of protest, the stunt also appears to be part of a marriage proposal. As one of my colleagues joked, “Please, honey, marry me, so we can go off to jail together."
Proposal atop the Empire State Building? pic.twitter.com/ngV2b5eaZr
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 1, 2026
Variations on the saying on the banner are attributed to moral philosophers like Mahatma Gandhi and even rockers like Jimi Hendrix.
As of this writing, the daredevils have reportedly just made their way back down. The first words they may have heard were, “You’re under arrest,” because ABC News reports that they are now in custody.
Empire State Building climbers have made their down off the top of the antenna pic.twitter.com/sjiG3RWavb
— Steven Bognar (@Bogs4NY) July 1, 2026
RedState will keep you updated.
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