Pride Flags Burned For Second Time Outside Same Harlem Bar
July 8, 2019, 12:44 p.m.
"Sad to report that [a] few weeks after the first incident, someone has once again set our pride flags on fire! We simply have no words!"
The pride flags outside a Harlem bar have now been set on fire twice within the span of about a month. Police are now seeking the person or people responsible, but have no suspects in the most recent incident.
A photo of one of the burnt flags appeared on Alibi Lounge's Instagram account early Monday morning. "Sad to report that [a] few weeks after the first incident, someone has once again set our pride flags on fire!" the caption reads. "We simply have no words!"
Staff members noticed the burning flag around 1 a.m. today, according to police. Speaking to CBS New York, Alibi owner Alexi Minko called the repeat offense "surreal."
"We have had the protection of the NYPD who had been sitting in front of our door regularly and tonight," Minko said. "I simply cannot grasp that it happened again." Pix11 reports that police were not present outside the bar on Sunday night.
The first incident occurred on the eve of Pride Month: Someone ran into the bar screaming, "Fire!" around 12:30 a.m. on May 31st. The two rainbow flags flanking Alibi's entrance were "completely blazing," Minko said at the time. Police subsequently released security camera footage in which a man, whose features are difficult to make out, can be seen flicking a lighter and holding it to the flags before walking away. That suspect remains at large, but with hate crime reports rising across the city, Governor Andrew Cuomo directed the New York State Police Hate Crimes Task Force to help with the NYPD's investigation.
On Monday, an NYPD spokesperson told Gothamist the latest incident is not being investigated as a bias crime, although Cuomo once again called on the Hate Crimes Task force to aid in the investigation.
"I am appalled by the burning of yet another pride flag outside an LGBTQ bar in Harlem," the governor said in a statement. "This act of hate is repugnant to our values of equality and inclusion, and we will not stand by and allow these cowardly acts to continue in New York."
"In New York we have zero tolerance for this despicable behavior," he added, "and will continue to live by the credo that the most powerful four-letter word is not hate—it's love."