AXIS: BOLD AS GLADSTONE. Two people climb to top of Empire State Building in New York, fly banner calling for peace.
Two people climbed to the top of the Empire State Building on Wednesday and unfurled a giant banner calling for peace, prompting a large emergency response and an investigation into how they gained access to the landmark’s spire.
Aerial video showed the two individuals standing atop the building’s mast after they put up a black banner with white lettering that read, “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace.”
The message on the banner echoed a quote often attributed to musician Jimi Hendrix, though it has also been credited to 19th-century British Prime Minister William Gladstone.
Exit quote:
Kind of a lame message to risk your life for tbh. https://t.co/ydr0HLeKKj
— Lisa Boothe (@LisaMarieBoothe) July 1, 2026
UPDATE: “Following a response by the New York City Police Department (NYPD), the pair appeared to take down the banner and climb down to a lower platform. One of the people then appeared to pull an engagement ring out of a backpack, get down on one knee and propose…Roughly 40 police officers remain in front of the building. Others are directing traffic around the building. The entrance on Fifth Ave., between West 33rd and 34th streets, is blocked off. Pedestrians were seen gathering on every corner surrounding the building watching the situation unfold. Counting the spire and antenna, the skyscraper stands 1,454 feet tall.”