New footage released by cops Monday night shows a man torching a gay pride flag outside a Harlem bar early Monday — the second time in less than two months the nightspot’s rainbow-colored emblems were set ablaze.
🚨WANTED🚨 For a Criminal Mischief in front of 2376 7Th Avenue (Alibi Lounge) #UpperManhatten#Manhattan @NYPD32thpct on 07/8/19 @ 12:15 A.M. 💰Reward up to $2500👓Seen Him ? Know where he is?☎️Call 1-800-577-TIPS or DM us!📞Calls are CONFIDENTIAL! #YourCityYourCallpic.twitter.com/6gjOEvhz0v
— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) July 9, 2019
The surveillance video shows the suspect sitting on a stoop at about 12:25 a.m. while using a lighter to burn the flag outside of Alibi Lounge on West 139th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard.
Once the flag is on fire, the arsonist stands up and calmly walks away, the footage shows.
The bar’s gay pride flag was last burned just after midnight on May 31.
No arrests have been made in the first incident, and cops are unsure if the two arsons are connected.
Police said they are investigating Monday’s incident as a possible hate crime.
The latest burning left Alibi Lounge owner Alexi Minko in shock.
“It seems surreal. I think, for about 10 seconds, I just stood there petrified and shocked. I thought it was a joke — it can’t be real,” said Minko. “I have no words.”
“We really thought that it was over,” he added. “It is difficult to think it would happen again so soon, or happen again period.”
Minko said the new flag was donated to the bar anonymously.
