Who Are the Skywalkers? Rooftopping, Netflix Fame and Its Real Cost
Before the Empire State Building, before the arrest, there were about a dozen years of climbing towers nobody had permission to climb. Ivan Kuznetsov and Angelina Nikolau — publicly, Ivan "Vanya" Beerkus and Angela Nikolau — are Russian nationals in their early thirties, listed at an address in East Orange, New Jersey. They are among the best-known figures in rooftopping, a subculture that produced a Netflix documentary, an international audience, and a body count. This piece is about who they are and what they do. The July 2026 Empire State Building climb and the eight charges that followed are covered separately . A note on their names Coverage of the couple is inconsistent, which makes searching for them confusing. Both versions are correct, in different contexts: Legal / court records Public and social media Him Ivan Kuznetsov, 32 Ivan "Vanya" Beerkus Her Angelina Nikolau, 33 Angela Nikolau What rooftopping actually is Rooftopping is climb...