A large Palestinian flag was unfurled on one of the towers of New York City's Williamsburg Bridge on Monday morning.
The flag was unfurled from the tower on the Brooklyn side of the bridge during rush hour as New Yorkers drove into Manhattan for work.
Two people believed to be police officers were seen climbing the main cable to the top of the tower to remove the flag.
The Williamsburg Bridge was one of three New York bridges that were blocked by anti-Israel protesters in January.
The NYPD reported that 75 demonstrators blocked the Williamsburg Bridge, 70 blocked the Holland Tunnel, 40 blocked the Brooklyn Bridge, and 12 blocked the Manhattan Bridge.
Antisemitic incidents have increased in New York City since the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023. The NYPD stated that an overall rise in hate crimes in 2024 has been fueled by antisemitic attacks. In every month since October 7, the tally of anti-Jewish incidents has been higher year over year. Jews remain the group most targeted in hate crimes nearly every month.
An August report by Tom DiNapoli, the New York State comptroller, found that antisemitic incidents made up 44% of all hate crimes in the state last year, and 88% of those motivated by religious bias.
Last week, a Pakistani man was arrested and charged with planning a large-scale terrorist attack against a Jewish target in New York on behalf of the ISIS terrorist organization. The suspect is believed to have targeted the Chabad headquarters in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and was planning to attack either on October 7, the anniversary of the Hamas massacre, or on October 11, Yom Kippur.