Editing Brooklyn Bridge (section)

===Arrests===

At 9:00&nbsp;a.m. on May&nbsp;19, 1977, artist Jack Bashkow climbed one of the towers for ''Bridging'', a "media sculpture" by the performance group Art Corporation of America Inc. Seven artists climbed the largest bridges connected to Manhattan "to replace violence and fear in mass media for one day". When each of the artists had reached the tops of the bridges, they ignited bright-yellow [[flare]]s at the same moment, resulting in rush hour traffic disruption, media attention, and the arrest of the climbers, though the charges were later dropped. Called "the first social-sculpture to use mass-media as art" by conceptual artist [[Joseph Beuys]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Carey |first1=Brainard |title=John Halpern |url=https://museumofnonvisibleart.com/interviews/john-halpern/ |access-date=November 20, 2019 |agency=Praxis Interview Magazine, Museum of Nonvisible Art |publisher=WYBC, Yale University Radio |date=September 29, 2017}}</ref> the event was on the cover of the ''[[New York Post]]'', received international attention, and received [[ABC News (United States)|ABC Eyewitness News]]' ''1977 Best News of the Year'' award.<ref>{{cite web |title=Art Corporation of America Incorporated BRIDGING 1977 |url=https://festival17.summerhall.co.uk/exhibition/bridging-1977/ |publisher=Summerhall Festival 2017 |access-date=November 20, 2019}}</ref> [[John Halpern (artist)|John Halpern]] documented the incident in the film ''Bridging, 1977''. Halpern attempted another "bridging" "social sculpture" in 1979, when he planted a radio receiver, gunpowder and fireworks in a bucket atop one of the towers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tarozzi Goldsmith |first1=Marcella |title=Future of Art, The: An Aesthetics of the New and the Sublime |date=September 1, 1999 |publisher=[[SUNY Press]] |isbn=978-0-7914-4315-6 |page=80 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ySM8NLm_nUC&pg=PA202|access-date=November 18, 2019}}</ref> The piece was later discovered by police, leading to his arrest for possessing a bomb.<ref>{{cite news |title=Manhattan Artist Seized In Case of Bridge 'Bomb' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/08/05/archives/manhattan-artist-seized-in-case-of-bridge-bomb.html |access-date=November 20, 2019 |work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331 |date=August 5, 1979}}</ref>

On October 1, 2011, more than 700 protesters with the [[Occupy Wall Street]] movement were arrested while attempting to march across the bridge on the roadway.<ref>{{Cite news|title=700 Arrested After Protest On Brooklyn Bridge|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/10/01/140983353/about-500-arrested-after-protest-on-brooklyn-bridge|access-date=July 28, 2020|publisher=NPR|date=October 2011|language=en}}</ref> Protesters disputed the police account of the events and claimed that the arrests were the result of being trapped on the bridge by the NYPD.<ref>{{Cite web|date=October 3, 2011|title=Occupy Wall Street – the Story of the Brooklyn Bridge 'Trap'|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2011/oct/03/occupy-wall-street-brooklyn-bridge-arrests|access-date=July 28, 2020|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> The majority of the arrests were subsequently dismissed.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Martin|first=Adam|date=May 1, 2012|title=What Happened to Those 732 Occupiers Arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge?|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/05/what-happened-those-732-occupiers-arrested-brooklyn-bridge/328715/|access-date=July 28, 2020|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US}}</ref>

On July&nbsp;22, 2014, the two [[Flag of the United States|American flags]] on the flagpoles atop each tower were found to have been replaced by bleached-white American flags.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/White-Flags-Brooklyn-Bridge-American-268110482.html |title=American Flags Bleached White Appear Atop Brooklyn Bridge |date=July 22, 2014 |work=[[WNBC]] News |access-date=May 24, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-28427078 |title=Brooklyn Bridge 'White Flags' Stump Police |date=July 22, 2014 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> Initially, [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] activism was suspected as a motive,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Brooklyn-Bridge-Bleached-White-American-Flags-NYPD-Video-Four-Young-People-268361812.html |title=NYPD Looking for 4 Young Adults in Brooklyn Bridge Flags Probe: Official |last1=Esposito |first1=Richard |date=July 23, 2014 |work=WNBC News |last2=Winter |first2=Tom|access-date=July 28, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Brooklyn-Bridge-White-Flags-Investigation-Cellphone-Surveillance-Social-Media-DNA-268507692.html |title=NYPD Running License Plates, Examining Cellphone Transmissions, Collecting DNA in Brooklyn Bridge White Flags Investigation |last1=Glorioso |first1=Chris |date=July 24, 2014 |work=WNBC News |last2=Esposito |first2=Richard|access-date=July 28, 2020}}</ref> but on August&nbsp;12, 2014, two Berlin artists claimed responsibility for hoisting the two white flags, having switched out the original flags with their replicas. The artists said that the flags were meant to celebrate "the beauty of public space" and the anniversary of the death of German-born John Roebling, and they denied that it was an "anti-American statement".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2014/08/12/germans-put-flags-on-brooklyn-bridge.html |title=Germans Put Flags on Brooklyn Bridge |date=August 12, 2014 |work=Daily Beast |access-date=August 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-28770540 |title=Artists Claim Brooklyn Bridge Stunt |work=[[BBC News]] |date=August 13, 2014 |access-date=August 13, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/German-Artists-Claim-White-Flags-Brooklyn-Bridge-270977621.html |title=Artists Claim White Flags on Bridge |last=Dienst |first=Jonathan |date=August 12, 2014 |work=WNBC New|access-date=July 28, 2020}}</ref>