Authorities are still searching for at least two people who draped a large banner over the side of the Manhattan Bridge last week. The banner featured an image of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the word “Peacemaker.”
The banner measured approximately 20′ x 30′ and hung closer to the Brooklyn side of the bridge.
Witnesses in the Dumbo neighborhood reported noticing at least two people struggling to unfurl the banner around 1:45 p.m. on Thursday, October 6.
“We were just at our desks, we have some large windows from our office and we just saw it going up,” said Quinn Formel, 27, whose Brooklyn office building faces the Manhattan bridge. “We realized it was Putin and it was the Russian flag and it said ‘peacemaker’ and then after that we were all confused about what this is supposed to be saying or expressing — it’s not very clear.”
Police received a phone call about the banner around 2:30 p.m. and had the sign removed by 3:00 p.m., more than an hour after people first began to notice it. Research suggests that 79% of people tend to remember banner advertisements flown from airplanes, though a sign this unusual will be difficult for New Yorkers to forget soon.
Many witnesses immediately shared photos of the Putin banner on Twitter, though few seemed to be able to glean much significance from it.
“The Manhattan bridge, right now. (Vladimir Putin, peacemaker???)” read one tweet.
“Everybody thought it was interesting, but nobody really got it. Nobody understood the political message or whatever message was behind it,” said another Dumbo worker, Heath Raymond. “I turned around. I was in my office and it was just hanging there.”
The New York City Police Department has so far not offered any details about their inquiry into the matter, except that they will be examining available surveillance video from the bridge and surrounding areas.
“There are no details on why or who, it has to be investigated,” said a NYPD spokesperson.
17Oct
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