An LGBTQ art banner hanging at 17 Horatio Street in Manhattan's West Village was cut down by an unidentified person just after midnight in early August, and now NYPD Crime Stoppers is offering up to $3,500 for information that leads to an arrest and indictment. The case has been classified as a criminal mischief hate crime, and the NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating.
According to NYPD Crime Stoppers
, the incident happened on Thursday, August 6, 2026, at approximately 12:45 a.m., when an unidentified individual approached the banner in the confines of the 6th Precinct and cut it down. The person then fled on foot, heading northbound on Hudson Street, per the same account. No injuries were reported in connection with the incident.
The tipster reward and the request for public assistance were posted by the department's Crime Stoppers unit, which uses the handle @nypdtips and is based in New York.
A Pattern of Pride Symbol Attacks in New York
This is far from the first time Pride-related displays have been targeted in the city. NBC New York previously reported on two separate incidents in Queens and Manhattan during Pride Month in which flags were stolen or torn down, including one in the West Village where neighbors discovered roughly 60 Pride flags ripped from a fence, broken apart, and thrown onto the sidewalk. In a related incident, several Pride flags on display near the Stonewall National Monument, across from the Stonewall Inn, were also found broken and torn down.
The area around the Stonewall National Monument has been a repeat target. NBC News reported that a group of three men allegedly damaged multiple rainbow Pride flags there in an episode police investigated as a possible hate crime, and the NYPD released surveillance footage of the men and asked the public for help identifying them, according to NBC News. That same report noted a Pride flag was set ablaze outside a Manhattan restaurant in February, part of a broader pattern that has included an incident in Tempe, Arizona, where a flag was taken down and burned outside a City Hall building.
Vandalism Has Recurred Year After Year
ABC7 New York reported that the monument was targeted three times during Pride Month the previous year alone. Police told the station that cameras caught three people breaking Pride flags on June 10 of that year, and that less than a week later, 10 more flags were destroyed in a follow-up incident. The same report described flags along the perimeter of the park being ripped down, sticks snapped, with three-quarters of the flags stolen, as detailed by ABC7 New York.
Nationally, the Crowd Counting Consortium found that anti-LGBTQ protests have surged since mid-2022, averaging 39 per month compared with just three per month in the years before, according to the NBC News report.
Potential Legal Exposure Under State Law
Criminal mischief in New York is governed by Article 145 of the state Penal Law, titled Criminal Mischief and Related Offenses, which includes sections 145.00 and 145.05, according to the New York State Senate. It remains unclear whether anyone has been arrested, charged, or indicted in connection with the August 6 banner incident.
Anyone with information is asked to contact NYPD Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The reward of up to $3,500 is being offered for a tip that leads to an arrest and indictment in the case.
