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NYPD arrests 3 women who try to hang ‘VOTE’ banner on Manhattan Bridge

November 5, 2018 Associated Press
Eagle file photo by Lore Croghan
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Three women have been arrested after police say they tried to unfurl a banner on a New York City bridge on the eve of the midterm elections.

Police say the women, ranging in age from 23 to 37, were apprehended mid-span on the Manhattan Bridge bicycle path at around 6:15 a.m. on Monday.

The women were only able to hang part of the banner from the side of the bridge before police stopped them.

The banner, which said “VOTE,” was about the length of several cars.

The women, residents of Brooklyn and Queens, were issued summonses for unlawful posting and not having a permit.

A group of progressive activist artists called the Flo Kennedy Society claimed responsibility for the stunt.

This is not the first time that activists have used the Manhattan Bridge as a staging ground. In October 2016, a 20-by-30-foot banner was hung from the bridge, displaying a large picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin with the word “Peacemaker” in capital letters. In 2014, groups marching in solidarity with Palestinians hung a large Palestinian flag from the bridge.

The Manhattan Bridge has external walkways and only partial fencing, making the process of draping something off the side more straightforward than trying to do so on the Brooklyn Bridge, where the walkway is located in the center of the overpass.  


— Additional reporting contributed by Sara Bosworth

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