Missing 'Freedom Causeway' Flags Found Safe

The missing U.S. flags that flew over the causeway connecting New City and Congers - creating a "Freedom Causeway" - have been found safe and sound.

Clarkstown town officials discovered the flags were missing Saturday morning and feared they might have been stolen. However, it turns out the flags had been taken down by members of the Rockland County Sheriff's Department.

Clarkstown Code and Zoning Enforcement Officer Joel J. Epstein said today it turned out the Sheriff's Department decided to pull the flags from the causeway - a county road - after receiving complaints about the condition of the flags.

Epstein said last week's severe rain and driving winds knocked many of the 20 flags along the causeway off their mounts. To prevent the flags from falling onto the road or into Lake DeForest, Epstein said the flags are also attached by a wire - preparing for situations just like last week.

However, Epstein said that when the flags are dislodged, they hang upside down on the wire. He said that a number of area residents called to complain about the flags hanging like that, prompting the Sheriff's Department's action.

Epstein saw the flags had been dislodged on Friday and went to the causeway around 6:30 a.m. Saturday to put them back in their proper positions. That's when he discovered the flags were gone. He alerted the Clarkstown police that the flags were missing, and at that time the town officially considered the flags to be stolen because officials did not know the Sheriff's Department had the flags.

Epstein said that when the flags need maintenance he goes to the two-lane causeway during hours that have low traffic - such as the early morning on the weekend - so the flags can be safely adjusted and so that traffic is not affected.

Clarkstown decided to create the flag-lined "Freedom Causeway" about three years ago after local residents had taken it upon themselves to put U.S. flags along the road. At that time, Epstein said flags would routinely fall into the roadway or into the lake.

"I used to have a fishing pole I would take with me to get the flags out of the lake," Epstein said.

To make the Freedom Causeway official, Epstein said Clarkstown got approval from United Water — which operates Lake DeForest as a reservoir — and Orange and Rockland Utilities for the flags to be attached to utility poles on the causeway.

Epstein said the flags are usually removed for the winter because of the bitter cold and windy conditions on the causeway during that time of the year. "We may not put them back up just yet," Epstein said. "We may just wait until the spring because we are so closed to the end of the seaon."