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An American Flag Flies Again in the East Village

By Murray Weiss | February 12, 2016 4:39pm | Updated on February 14, 2016 7:22pm
 The flag was re-hung the correct way on Friday, Feb. 12, 2016.
The flag was re-hung the correct way on Friday, Feb. 12, 2016.
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Raymond Rivera

EAST VILLAGE — An American flag was back atop the flagpole at the Jacob Riis Houses Friday afternoon and it's hanging the right way — just in time for President’s Day.

After allowing the wind and snow to rip Old Glory to shreds on the flagpole at the Jacob Riis Houses near East 10th Street and the FDR Drive, the Parks Department replaced it after Marine Corps veteran Raymond Rivera complained.

But to Rivera's amazement, the city workers left the flag hanging upside down, which federal law states should only be done to signal an emergency.

The sight of the Red, White and Blue hanging properly made Rivera proud once again.

“I am elated,” Rivera said, thanking DNAinfo’s “On the Inside” for its role in getting the city to replace the flag outside his home. “I am proud to see it.

Rivera’s saga began last October when he initially saw the flag being ripped by the winter winds and inclement weather. Then he saw the flag being shredded and finally disappear completely from the pole following the recent blizzard that dumped more than two feet of snow on the Big Apple.

He contacted the Parks Department and his local City Councilwoman but, when nothing happened, his sister Irma, a retired NYPD homicide detective, suggested he call “On The Inside.”

On Thursday, the Parks Department reported that the flag had been replaced — but it was hung upside down. 

Alerted again about the embarrassing miscue, city workers returned and the flag was properly hung.

“It was just unpatriotic to let it get ripped and torn away in the first place,” said Rivera, who served between 1979 and 1984.

"So many people gave up their lives for this country. This is the proper thing to do.”

But he put the city on notice that he will be keeping an eye out for how it is treated going forward.

“I will stay on top of it,” he said. "If they let it fall apart, I will be bitching again.”