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THIS TIME IT WAS A FLAG NEXT TIME IT COULD BE A COMB

By

John Del Signore

Published Jul 23, 2014

Modified Jul 23, 2014

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By

John Del Signore

Published Jul 23, 2014

Modified Jul 23, 2014

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The Daily News wins the prize for best front page this morning with their sensational headline regarding yesterday's Brooklyn Bridge white flag stunt! And it's true, next time it could be a bomb. That sure would be horrible. But next time it could also be a wide variety of things, and we're curious how the News editors ultimately settled on "bomb," of all things. Surely their intention was not to scaremonger readers into buying their newspapers? No no no, and to prove it a source at the tabloid was kind enough to share their list of today's rejected headlines:

Late yesterday the NYPD said there were no credible claims of responsibility for the white flags. However, one astute tipster told Gothamist (and, unlike these fake rejected headlines, we are not making this up) that the incident coincided with the Apollo 11 moon landing, during which astronauts planted American flags. Two of those flags still remain, but they have been bleached white by UV radiation. Ergo, the tipster warns, the Brooklyn Bridge flags presage a dirty bomb attack on NYC. The tipster lives in Maryland.

The Post, meanwhile, believes it's much, much simpler than that. If only it were that simple:

072314post.jpg

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John Del Signore

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Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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