There was a ‘Spike’ in business at a Bay Ridge store when award-winning director, screenwriter and die-hard Knicks fan Spike Lee paid a visit to Legend’s Sporting Goods following the team’s first championship since 1973. Photo: Frank Franklin II/AP
Happy Thursday in NYC, where two love stories are dominating the public imagination.
In case you hadn’t heard, the wedding of the millennium is happening right here in New York City, and it’s happening tomorrow. After months of speculation, a number of news outlets have confirmed that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will be getting married in Madison Square Garden on Friday before a crowd of 1,000 invitees, including the starting five players for the Knicks championship team.
Not for the first time in the last month, police officers are preparing for unwieldy crowds outside the iconic arena. The NYPD has been busy setting up barricades and deploying extra police officers to manage the potential surge. Festivities are expected to begin tonight with a rehearsal dinner and continue until the early hours of Saturday morning.
New York’s second love story comes to us from the top of the Empire State Building. Yesterday, a pair of masked figures in all-black clothing were spotted at the very top of the building’s spire, where they unfurled a banner reading, “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace.” The incident took a surprising turn when the pair descended to the base of the spire. A news helicopter recording the incident live captured the moment when one of the figures got down on one knee to propose.
The couple was later identified as Ivan Kuznetsov, 32, and Angelina Nikolau, 33 — two Russian nationals residing in East Orange, New Jersey. The couple had previously appeared in a Netflix documentary called “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” which documented their relationship and their career as daredevil climbers.
“[Kuznetov] was baddest roofer in all of Russia with the biggest Instagram account in the country,” Nikolau says in the documentary. “He wasn't like other rooftoppers, just doing crazy [sh**] for likes. Vanya was serious. He made it into a real career.”
NYPD officers arrested Ivan and Angelina shortly after their descent and plan to arraign the couple on charges including reckless endangerment, trespassing and disorderly conduct, among others. The couple documented their exploits on social media, garnering millions of views in under 24 hours.
Kuznetsov took a number of risks yesterday, not least of which was the possibility of a pretty awkward climb down if she said no.
We’ll be off tomorrow for the Fourth of July weekend, but back in your inboxes on Monday!
Con Ed activated its Emergency Response Center on Wednesday in preparation for high temperatures and potential thunderstorms.
Haejin Jewelry in Williamsburg, a new woman-owned venture that specializes in use of lab-grown diamonds, has begun a campaign to educate the public about the value and accessibility of special stones.
BPL’s Amy Mikel was honored by the American Library Association with its Medal of Excellence, which recognizes outstanding creative leadership.
Speed cameras are now operating at active construction zones on MTA vehicular bridges and tunnels.
MTA announced the debut of standard R211A train cars on the D line, marking the sixth subway line to be served by the new train cars.
AG Letitia James announced a lawsuit against the Puppy Boutique pet store in Dyker Heights, for allegedly selling hundreds of puppies, in violation of the Puppy Mill Pipeline Act.
A group of egg producers must donate 53 million eggs to states’ food banks and nonprofit organizations as part of a settlement with state AG Letitia James and a bipartisan multi-state coalition.
A woman was found with a fatal gunshot wound in her Foster Avenue apartment on Tuesday night.
Police are searching for missing boy Dwyne Groce, 15, who was last seen at around 9 p.m. on Tuesday, June 30.
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Our World In Photos
Photo: Charlie Riedel/AP
KANSAS CITY — It’s a party in the U.S.A.: Fans celebrate during a watch party for a World Cup soccer match against Bosnia at the KC Live! entertainment district Wednesday, July 1, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo.
For more pictures like this, see Our World in Photos.
Before Brooklyn, there was nature
Visitors explored the “Before New York” pop-up exhibit at Green-Wood before a lecture by Eric Sanderson. Photo: Ella Spungen/Brooklyn Eagle
Landscape ecologist Eric Sanderson has spent nearly three decades painstakingly reconstructing what New York City might have looked like 400 years ago when it was made up of beaches, plains, forested hills and marshes.
In 2009, Sanderson, who leads the New York Botanical Garden’s Urban Conservation program, compiled his research on the island of Manhattan, drawn from hundreds of georeferenced historical maps, into a book entitled “Manhatta: A Natural History of New York City.”
He expanded his scope to all five boroughs with the publication of his new book, “Before New York,” releasing this fall.
Brooklyn was the first pop-up stop after the exhibit opened in the Bronx’s NYBG in the spring.
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The Mini
Cartoon Sketchbook
By Bob Englehart
For the Road
Happy Birthday “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” creator Larry David, who was born in Brooklyn!
On this day in 1901, the Eagle reported, “The hottest July 2 ever recorded before in New York was in 1872 and in 1876, when a temperature of 94 degrees was registered. This record was smashed at 10 o’clock this morning, at which hour the official thermometer registered 95 …”
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