When peak romance meets the law’s long arm

What Karen Carpenter sang about in 1972, Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus embodied this week: Being so in love that they were “on top of the world, looking down on creation”. The Russian daredevil duo has gone viral for scaling the Empire State Building in New York City, where he went down on one knee and put a ring on her perfectly manicured fingers. The proposal was photographed and shared with their 2 million followers.

The stunt was the culmination of a decade-long romance that has played out across countries and skyscrapers, from the 1,957-ft Goldin Finance 117 in China to the 2,227-ft Merdeka 118 in Malaysia. It was also, perhaps inadvertently, the encapsulation of what it could feel like to be in love: Euphoric and vertiginous, complete with the conviction that there is no force on Earth that can bring one down. Yet, the high is inevitably followed by the crashing low.

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The climb to the top of the Empire State Building, done with neither safety gear nor permission, was illegal. Among the many charges that the NYPD has slapped on the couple are reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct. So far, Nikolau and Beerkus have refused to let the prosecutorial instincts of the state dampen their romance, kissing for the cameras after leaving the courthouse where they were arraigned. Like other lovers before them, they may discover that even the most soaring romance can only defy gravity for so long.