NYPD pilot audio: ‘Two geniuses climbed to the top of the Empire State Building’

Air traffic control audio captured a moment between an NYPD helicopter pilot and a LaGuardia air traffic controller when two people were spotted on top of the Empire State Building.

“What’s all the hoopla going on over there?” the air traffic controller asks, according to ATC.com.

“Two geniuses climbed to the top of the Empire State Building at the top of the spire,” the officer responds.

“Oh, that’s awesome.”

“They had some flag they were waving when they were up at the top,” the officer says. “And he just proposed to her.”

Hear the audio in the player above

The two people who scaled the spire of the Empire State Building were arraigned Thursday on felony charges and released under court supervision, a day after they evaded security to unfurl a banner about 1,450 feet above the sweltering city and appeared to mark their engagement.

Angelina Nikolau, 33, who goes by Angela, and Ivan Kuznetsov, 32, face charges including burglary, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief, according to the criminal complaint. The charges are not bail-eligible under New York law, and the pair are due back in court Aug. 24, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

The duo entered the building as visitors the day before the stunt and hid inside after closing, according to a law enforcement source. Security camera footage showed the pair hiding in the observatory complex, the source said. Video also showed Nikolau popping out of a hatch in the floor in the pre-dawn hours Wednesday and emerging into the observatory complex near the top of the building.

The pair then maneuvered around a gate secured with cable locks and cut two locks on the 104th floor, the source said. The first 911 call came in seconds after noon.

The NYPD had to power down the broadcast antenna – which emits high-frequency radio signals powerful enough to harm the human body – for about 30 minutes before officers with the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit could safely approach the climbers, according to the criminal complaint. Officers wearing harnesses then climbed roughly 1,250 feet up the antenna to reach the pair.

Damage to a broken security door lock on the 104th floor is estimated at about $2,000, according to the complaint.