Two American flags atop New York’s Brooklyn Bridge were replaced sometime early Tuesday morning with bleached white flags. WABC-TV New York reports:
Police removed the white flags just before noon from poles on the stone supports that hold cables above the bridge. [Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence of the NYPD John] Miller said it appeared the 20 foot by 11 foot flags were bleached American flags. One could see faint traces of stars and stripes on [them]. Police also found what appeared to be large aluminum pans that had been affixed as [spotlight] covers, secured with zip ties.
Miller said whoever did it appeared to have some climbing experience and possibly had done bridge work, perhaps even on the Brooklyn Bridge.
Huh. Mysterious white flags replace American flags atop New York City's Brooklyn Bridge, photo via NBC News pic.twitter.com/uGgljDDtqx
— Patrick deHahn (@patrickdehahn) July 22, 2014
NYPD Commissioner Bratton "not particularly happy" Stars & Stripes on #Brooklyn Bridge replaced with bleached US flag pic.twitter.com/ILv0ZXZHA7
— Jon Williams (@WilliamsJon) July 22, 2014
American flags on New York City's Brooklyn Bridge mysteriously replaced with white flags: http://t.co/Er3IShrMM4 pic.twitter.com/LXrHaTCQ3j
— ABC News (@ABC) July 22, 2014
Some news outlets had reported that the flag-switch was the work of the “Bicycle Lobby,” self-described in its @BikeLobby Twitter bio as a parody account.
Associated Press tells me it has "withdrawn" its story on the Brooklyn Bridge, on account of Bike Lobby fake-out: http://t.co/QKDY4KfpiJ
— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) July 22, 2014
Earlier today we hoisted two white flags to signal our complete surrender of the Brooklyn Bridge bicycle path to pedestrians.
— Bicycle Lobby (@BicycleLobby) July 22, 2014
We implore "journalists" asking for comment to A) read our profile B) read more than one of our tweets and C) Google "Dorothy Rabinowitz."
— Bicycle Lobby (@BicycleLobby) July 22, 2014
Stop us if you've heard this one before. How many Daily News reporters does it take to not fact-check a story?
— Bicycle Lobby (@BicycleLobby) July 22, 2014
If you believe we're for real, we have a bridge in Brooklyn we'd like to sell you.
— Bicycle Lobby (@BicycleLobby) July 22, 2014
To be fair, we don't reveal we're a parody account until the second line of our profile. pic.twitter.com/fnS8um2tgO
— Bicycle Lobby (@BicycleLobby) July 22, 2014
Well, it's been a fun day. We're off now for our daily ride with Beyoncé. Meeting her at the bridge. pic.twitter.com/K5gg69zj90
— Bicycle Lobby (@BicycleLobby) July 22, 2014
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