“I didn’t want anyone seeing me come out of that house and think that was my garage and my flag,” Bay Ridge resident Michael Byrnes told DNAinfo about his “Ew –>” sign fashioned from a cardboard box that points to the Trump flag his neighbor is flying. Byrnes, a 35-year-old Navy vet who’s voting for Jill Stein, added that he “mainly put up the sign so he could sit comfortably on his couch … and know I had a counter up to the Trump flag.”
The owner of the Trump flag is 62-year-old Clifford Jacobs. Jacobs, who described himself as a lifelong Democrat and Bay Ridge resident, said he will probably keep the flag up until Election Day, despite the message of disgust and getting at least two notes, written on cardboard, with the words “racist.” (Byrnes denies having anything to do with those.) Jacobs isn’t the only New Yorker who’s had trouble with Trump branding; he’s also not giving in. “I can’t take it down, because it would be giving in,” he said. “It seems like a lot of people just want to shut you down ’til you agree with them, or they don’t want to hear or see other opinions.”
