You are reading

Pride Banner Ripped Down From Forest Hills Church, Lawmakers Condemn Hateful Act

A pride banner was allegedly ripped down from outside a Forest Hills church last weekend (Photo: Jack Quinn via Facebook)

June 9, 2022 By Michael Dorgan

A pride banner was allegedly ripped down from outside a Forest Hills church last weekend and several Queens lawmakers have condemned the incident.

The hateful act took place between 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday at The Church-in-the-Gardens, located at 50 Ascan Ave., according to police.

The rainbow banner was hanging across the front entrance of the church to celebrate pride month before it was torn down by an unidentified suspect, or suspects, and then dumped inside a nearby trash can, police said. It was not damaged and was found by a resident Saturday evening, cops said.

Police say they received a complaint about the incident Wednesday and an investigation is currently being carried out by the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force.

The banner has the phrase “A Just World For All” emblazoned across it and was produced by the United Church of Christ, a mainline Protestant Christian denomination which has around 5,000 churches around the U.S. The Church-in-the-Gardens is part of the United Church of Christ.

Congresswoman Grace Meng, State Senator Joseph Addabbo, Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi, and Council Member Lynn Schulman released a joint statement Thursday blasting the alleged culprit.

“This was a display of cowardice, and a reminder that we cannot let up in the fight for equality,” the statement reads.

“We are proud to represent a community that celebrates all of our LGBTQ+ neighbors – who make up our elected representatives, community leaders, advocates, friends and people of all walks of life.”

Local residents also denounced the incident and took to Facebook to convey their feelings.

“A terrible action that clearly does not reflect the sentiments of our community,” wrote one poster.

That’s disgusting! My daughter and I went past earlier on Saturday and commented on how great the church [was to] put the pride colors on display,” wrote another. “It showed support and inclusion. And it’s so narrow-minded of someone to have done this.”

According to published reports, the church plans on ordering a new flag and erecting it at the same spot, although at a higher elevation.

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at http://crimestoppers.nypdonline.com/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.

email the author: news@queenspost.com

3 Comments

Click for Comments 
Merman

Exactly. Muslims get credit for not giving into the woke nonsense. Imagine seeing a rainbow flag at a mosque. Highly doubt that will be a thing in the future.

Reply
Brandon Magoo

what did you expect when you offend people? its no longer tolerance when you force beliefs on people.

1
1
Reply
Hate has no place at a church

But gay pride isn’t the place for it either.

Just saying. Time and place for everything. A religious building is not appropriate to show that.

2
2
Reply

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Hollis man charged with raping 14-year-old told teen, ‘I can help you get work’

New details have emerged in the case of the Hollis man accused luring a 14-year-old boy into his car in St. Albans and then allegedly raping him on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 1.

Virgilio Taveras, 63, of Hillside Avenue, was arrested by detectives from the Queens Special Victims Squad two days later and booked at the 107th Precinct in Fresh Meadows. Taveras was arraigned on the Fourth of July in Queens Criminal Court on a complaint charging him with rape in the second degree, luring a child as an E felony, endangering the welfare of a child and other related crimes.

Deadly Belt Parkway crash claims lives of Springfield Gardens man and Manhattan mother: NYPD

A Springfield Gardens man and a passenger in his car died after they were involved in a multi-vehicle chain-reaction crash on the Belt Parkway near Kennedy Airport on the morning of Saturday, July 5.

Noah Thompson, 24, of 179th Street, was behind the wheel of a white BMW 428i traveling eastbound on the Belt Parkway in Howard Beach at 6:05 a.m. when he failed to navigate the roadway approaching the Nassau Expressway exit.

Man in his 50s sought for exposing himself to 13-year-old on E train in Forest Hills: NYPD

Police from the 112th Precinct in Forest Hills and Transit District 20 are looking for a suspect who allegedly flashed a 13-year-old girl on a Queens subway train last month.

The victim was riding a southbound E train approaching the Kew Gardens-Union Turnpike station at around 1 p.m. on Monday, June 30, when she saw a stranger exposing himself to her, police said Wednesday. The perpetrator ran off the train at the Kew Gardens-Union Turnpike station and fled in an unknown direction. The youngster was not injured during her encounter with the stranger.