The POW/MIA flag was missing in action at City Hall on Tuesday.
It was missing Monday and Sunday as well. In fact, it was missing all the way back to last June — despite a city statute requiring the somber black banner to be flown every day at the hall.
But the forgotten flag of remembrance was nowhere to be seen because the de Blasio administration shelved it for roof repairs. It was hidden away until The News inquired about it Tuesday. And even then, it took hours for the administration to do the right thing and fly the flag.
Outraged veterans advocates say it’s just another example of Mayor de Blasio’s lack of regard for those who put themselves in harm’s way for the country.
City regulations from 1990 say the mayor generally has control over the display of “flags or other decorations” at and around New York’s seat of government.
There’s a notable exception: The city code specifically states that the POW/MIA banner must be displayed each day along with the U.S. flag at City Hall until every servicemember is accounted for.
More than 83,000 people who served in the United States armed forces are still unaccounted for since World War II.
City Hall was initially at a loss for words when The News emailed at 4 p.m. asking why the POW/MIA flag wasn’t flying.
Three hours later, at 7:10 p.m., a spokesman emailed a bland response. “We will review flag protocol and ensure the POW flag is displayed appropriately at City Hall,” the de Blasio spokesman said .
But when darkness fell, a worker skulked out around 10:10 p.m. and was spotted hoisting the dissed flag.
The administration had been considering displaying the flag on the plaza until the renovations to the roof are complete.
It wasn’t immediately clear why that plan wasn’t put into action earlier: The Municipal Building at 1 Centre St., just east of City Hall, displays the POW/MIA flag directly below the Stars and Stripes on the same pole.
The stark black flag shows the silhouette of a man trapped behind a strand of barbed wire, his head lowered. In the background, a menacing guard observes from a watchtower.
Below the image is the motto: “You are not forgotten.”
That’s not the message the de Blasio administration has been sending, said Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq War veteran and 9/11 first responder who runs Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
“I am not at all surprised,” Rieckhoff told The News Tuesday. “The mayor has proven to be extremely disconnected from the veterans community, and this is the kind of thing that happens when you don’t understand or appreciate our traditions and priorities.”
Rieckhoff, who in April critcized de Blasio for abandoned vets in an Op-Ed piece forfor The News, threw an elbow at the mayor for crisscrossing the country to promote his progressive agenda while not even bothering to respond to veterans’ requests for a sitdown.
“Voters in Iowa seem to be more of a priority for the mayor than veterans in New York,” he scoffed. “And I think it’s especially egregious less than a week from Memorial Day.”
The black flag was created during the Vietnam War, and it’s the only banner flown over the White House besides the American flag.
In times past, the POW/MIA flag occupied the easternmost of four flagpoles mounted atop City Hall. The U.S. and New York City flags occupied poles on the plaza in front of the building.
Before the administration was shamed into doing its civic duty, John Rowan of Queens, who serves as president and CEO of Vietnam Veterans of America, told The News “they need to rectify the problem right away.”
And Rep. Pete King (R-L.I.), a member of the Homeland Security Committee, told The News that no matter what the reason for the flag’s hiatus from City Hall, it should quickly rise again as a symbol that the U.S. remembers and honors those troops who never returned from combat.
Not flying the flag “is clearly wrong,” King said.
“Now that the wakeup call has been made, there’s no excuse not to do it.”
