Watch: Proposal at top of Empire State Building

An apparent marriage proposal appeared to take place on a sky-high platform of the Empire State Building in New York City yesterday. An unidentified person was seen kneeling before a second person, before the two embraced on 1 July 2026. The pair had climbed to the top of the building's towering spire to unfurl a large banner urging world peace. Dressed in sleeveless black outfits, they clung to the landmark skyscraper's antenna spire near the glowing red light at its top, some 443m above the footpath in midtown Manhattan. They held a black banner with a message in white letters that flapped in the wind reading: "When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace." It was not immediately clear who the two people were or how they got there.