Weird But True

Putin banner mysteriously appears on Manhattan Bridge

A giant poster of Russian President Vladimir Putin was draped along the side of the Manhattan Bridge on Thursday afternoon.

The massive banner featured the Russian leader in a suit and tie against the backdrop of the country’s flag along with the word “peacemaker” emblazoned at the bottom.

At least two people unfurled the politically driven banner around 1:45 p.m., witnesses said.

“We were just at our desks, we have some large windows from our office and we just saw it going up,” Quinn Formel, 27, whose office building in Dumbo faces the Manhattan Bridge, told The Post.

“These two guys … they were struggling for a little bit, but eventually got it [the banner] up,” he said.

Formel added, “We realized it was Putin and it was the Russian flag and it said ‘peacemaker’ and then after that we were all confused about what this is supposed to be saying or expressing — it’s not very clear.”

Heath Raymond, who works in Dumbo, said, “I turned around. I was in my office and it was just hanging there.”

“Everybody thought it was interesting, but nobody really got it. Nobody understood the political message or whatever message was behind it,” said Raymond, an executive producer at a production studio.

People quickly took to social media and posted photos of the mysterious flag.

“2 dudes just hung a giant Vladimir Putin ‘Peacemaker’ flag of the manhattan bridge,” Twitter user @FAMOUSCLASS tweeted.

Kathryn Peters tweeted a photo of the flag with the caption, “The Manhattan bridge, right now. (Vladimir Putin, peacemaker???)”

Another Twitter user wrote, “This just dropped on the Manhattan Bridge. Living in some weird and scary times,” with a photo.

The NYPD received a 911 call about the approximately 20-by-30-foot banner hanging above Adams Street and John Street in Brooklyn around 2:30 p.m., a police spokesman said.

Responding police officers removed the flag around 2:55 p.m.

Additional reporting by Amanda Woods