Wallendas safely cross Times Square on high wire

The Associated Press

5 years ago

Aerialists Nik Wallenda, top, steps over his sister Lijana as they walk on a high wire above Times Square, Sunday, June 23, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Jason Szenes)

Aerialist Lijana Wallenda walks on a high wire above Times Square, Sunday, June 23, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Jason Szenes)

Aerialists Nik Wallenda, right, and his sister Lijana walk on a high wire above Times Square, Sunday, June 23, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Jason Szenes)

Aerialists Nik Wallenda, top, steps over his sister Lijana as they walk on a high wire above Times Square, Sunday, June 23, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Jason Szenes)

NEW YORK — Two siblings from the famed Flying Wallendas safely crossed Times Square on a high wire strung between two skyscrapers 25 stories above the pavement.

Nik Wallenda is a seventh-generation acrobat, but this time, he was nervous. His sister, Lijana Wallenda, joined him Sunday night for the first time since her near-fatal accident in 2017, when she broke nearly every bone in her face.

The siblings walked from opposite ends of the 1,300-foot wire suspended between the towers, crossing each other in the middle, where Lijana Wallenda sat on the wire and let her brother step over her. Both then continued to the opposite side.

Their latest daredevil stunt was streamed live Sunday on ABC. They were wearing tethered safety harnesses required by the city in case they fell.

Lijana Wallenda has been a high-wire trainer at “Absinthe” since the show launched in April 2011.