FDNY firefighters forced to remove flag honoring 9/11 heroes after lefty pol questioned if it’s a ‘political symbol’

[Geee]

NY Post

Fire Department brass ordered an East Village ladder company to remove its “red line” American flag honoring the squad’s six brothers killed on 9/11 – after a neighborhood resident complained it was “fascist” and a local lefty pol questioned whether it was a “politically charged symbol.”

The shocking order came March 22 after a man claiming he was a staffer for Democratic Manhattan Councilwoman Carlina Rivera confronted firefighters at Ladder Co. 11, sources said.

The man pedaled up to the East 2nd Street firehouse on a bicycle and told firefighters he worked for Rivera and that the councilwoman’s office “complained” to the FDNY three days earlier about the flag – which features a red stripe in tribute of firefighters injured or killed in the line of duty.

He called it a “fascist symbol” and demanded to know why it was still up, sources said.

In a March 19 email to FDNY Intergovernmental Affairs Coordinator Madison Hernandez, Rivera staffer Lisander Rosario said the councilwoman’s office was contacted by the “constituent” twice about the ladder company’s flag and asked if it’s violating department rules.

 

“[FDNY staff] claimed it was to honor deceased firefighters, however, [the constituent] brought up that they could’ve used an FDNY flag rather than a politically charged symbol,” Rosario wrote.

“It is to both his and our understanding that private political symbols aren’t permitted to be displayed on public vehicles.”

“Can you confirm if there are any violating flags/symbols on Ladder 11?” added the email, which was obtained by The Post.

 

Hours after the “constituent” left the firehouse, FDNY Deputy Chief Joseph Schiralli visited firefighters there and reluctantly said the flag must come off the fire truck because it violated a department prohibition of “altered” versions of the American flag.

The rule was implemented in 2020 by then-Commissioner Daniel Nigro and then-First Deputy Commissioner Laura Kavanagh during the height of the anti-cop Black Lives Matters protests, sources said.

Schiralli told the firefighters he agreed with them that it’s “ridiculous” to remove the flag, recalled one of the smoke-eaters.