#NYPD investigating who changed the American Flag on the Brooklyn Bridge to a white flag @NYPDnews @CommissBratton pic.twitter.com/II5VpdbXSq
— Abraham Rosenberg (@AbeRosenberg1) July 22, 2014
Did New York City surrender? And if so, to whom? That’s what everyone is asking this morning after pictures on social media revealed that two unexplained white flag was flying from the top of each of the Brooklyn Bridge’s two towers where American flags usually sits. At exactly 11:00 a.m., the flag on the Manhattan side of the bridge was taken down, but investigators are still unsure how it got there.
Some people on Twitter joked that it may have to do with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s eight-day family vacation in Italy, while others thought maybe Starbucks had finally taken control of the city.
Gothamist reports that those close enough can see that the flag is actually an American flag that has either been painted white or bleached. An ABC News live stream of the white flag blowing in the wind at the top of the Brooklyn Bridge shows men on nearby investigating:
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="360" width="640" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
You can see more pictures below:
A white flag has appeared atop the Brooklyn Bridge. Did we just surrender to somebody? pic.twitter.com/qHdeAE2Z8x
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) July 22, 2014
Someone replaced the American flag on the Brooklyn Bridge with a white flag. pic.twitter.com/Vemilbm0OE
— Krystyn Heide (@krystynheide) July 22, 2014