Activists celebrate after relocating the Pride flag to the original pole, while people gather at the Stonewall National Monument, where the LGBTQ+ rights movement was born, to raise a Pride flag after authorities removed it from the Greenwich Village site in New York City, U.S., February 12, 2026. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
(New York, NY) – The rainbow and red, white and blue flags are now flying side by side at Stonewall National Monument. Christopher Park, a National Park and also widely considered the birthplace of the gay liberation movement in the U.S., made headlines earlier this week after the pride flag was removed by federal officials. After four days of outrage from the LGBTQ+ community, the pride flag was hoisted once again at the site of the Stonewall riots in the late 1960s. Fury once again took over the streets of lower Manhattan as did several spats between lawmakers and progressive activists.
Why Was the Flag Removed?
Park officials quietly took down the flag on Monday without any official statement or warning prior to the removal. No flag flew on the pole until Wednesday, when another U.S. Parks employee raised the American flag. A park employee who attempted to raise Old Glory earlier on Wednesday caused a commotion when AMNY reporter Dean Moses saw the employee raising the American flag and began taking video – upsetting the worker who refused to finish the job. Hours later, another park worker raised the Red, White and Blue. The removal was sparked by a January memo from the Department of Interior ordering for any non-American flags to be removed.
Rocky Road to the Actual Raising
The icy and slushy streets continue to plague pedestrians here in the city, and politicians got a little taste of this as they struggled to get into Christopher Park. The area was packed with TV cameras mixed in with activists and spectators. Young staffers were trying their best to keep control and make room for elected officials with little success. City Council Speaker Julie Menin, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Manhattan Congressmen Dan Goldman & Jerry Nadler, NY State Assembly member Deborah Glick, Assemblymember Alex Bores and State Senator Eric Boettcher were among the lawmakers carrying the flag. They were joined by Mariah Lopez, a local trans rights activist. Lopez and Glick got into a bit of a tiff as the group struggled down a narrow path.
Crowd Outraged Over Shoddy Job
After the flag finally snaked its way through the dense crowd, elected officials also struggled with the logistics of hoisting the flag back on the actual flagpole. The group instead opted to zip tie the flimsy, plastic flag pole to the park’s larger metal pole. Into a megaphone, Hoylman-Sigal said they brought the flag back to its sacred home. Some in the crowd wanted the action to go further and remove the American flag. One activist ended up tearing it down, and after some outrage from other spectators it was put back up. Once the American flag was raised again, the politicians all filed away and left after getting in their photo opps.
Elected Officials Leave, Crowds Remains & They’re Angry
While elected officials were leaving, the crowd showed they were not going anywhere as chants of “higher” and “raise the flag” broke out among the growing mass on Greenwich Village’s cramped streets. An unidentified teen then hopped the fence and cut the zip ties. Holyman-Sigal attempted to discourage the teen, but was unsuccessful and left. The teen was joined by Mariah Lopez and other activists who, after some fitzing with the rigging, hooked up the pride flag to the American flag and raised the two in tandem. No official word from the U.S. Parks Department or the Department of Interior regarding if the rainbow flag will be allowed to remain flying. Stonewall was declared a National Monument in 2016 by former President Barack Obama.
