NEW YORK — More than 2,000 protesters descended on the Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village on Thursday afternoon to hoist the pride flag back up again, after the Trump administration removed it earlier this week.

In a fired-up scene reminiscent of the resistance of the Stonewall Riots of 1969 that sparked the gay civil rights movement, the rowdy crowd first tried to pull down the American flag that a National Park Service worker had installed Wednesday in place of the removed pride flag.

Although the protest was passionate, it was peaceful. Police kept a respectful distance and there were no arrests. There was no sign of NPS officers anywhere.

After struggling to raise the pride flag, and failing, only getting it to half mast, they succeeded in binding it to the Stars and Stripes.

“This is our flag!” the crowd joyously roared. “This is our flag!”

Three people — Mariah Lopez, J.W. Walker and Josh Tjaden — teamed up to jerry-rig the pride flag onto the American flag. From somewhere in the crowd, a knife was produced and the trio used it to cut the zip ties that were holding the U.S. flag firmly in place.

Using the zip ties and some rope they cut off from the flagpole, after 20 minutes they were able to MacGyver the pride flag onto the western face of the American flag.

“We all jumped in and got to work. This is our flag,” said Walker, an activist. “This is our community. And that flagpole is ours.”

“Many trans Native Americans and people of color died for America,” said Lopez, a transgender activist. “Trans people have a better chance in this nation because of this flag. This is our flag.”

“It needed to fly exactly where it stood — in its rightful place,” said Tjaden, who is a creative director. “I’m excited what it means. I’m proud.”

Although a larger flagpole stands outside the park, this smaller one — located inside the park — was added under the Biden administration expressly to fly a pride flag as part of the Stonewall National Monument, which was designated under President Barack Obama.

At one point, three individuals who jumped over the park’s fence struggled to try to add a transgender flag into the mix, as well, but didn’t succeed.

A phalanx of New York elected officials had gathered to raise the pride flag at the site inside Christopher Park — in direct defiance of the Trump administration’s decision to remove it earlier this week. But when they were ultimately pushed to the side by the fired-up crowd.

The crowd chanted at the pols to yank down the American flag, too.

“Take it down! Take it down!” they shouted, adding when they didn’t quickly comply, “Cowards! Cowards!” When an aide tried to introduce the politicians, who had planned to give speeches, they were drowned out by a raucous chorus of boos.

In a news release beforehand, the elected officials, including Reps. Dan Goldman and Jerry Nadler, state Sens. Deborah Glick and Tony Simone, Assemblymembers Deborah Glick and Tony Simone and Councilmember Erik Bottcher, said the pride flag underscores the importance of supporting and protecting the LGBT community in the face of attacks by Trump and extremist Republicans. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams also was at the park.

Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman gave interviews on Christopher St. as the crowd filled the park. He had been among a group that made an initial, failed effort to raise the new pride flag up when it was still attached to a long silver pole that had been brought in for the event.

“I think it looks pretty good,” he said of the restored pride flag. “It’s not just about raising the flag. It’s about making our voices heard.

“I have no faith in the Trump administration — that’s why we did what we did,” he said of the DIY flag restoration. “It takes constant vigilance.”

The government’s removal of the pride flag in the cradle of the gay liberation movement, he said, is “a despicable act.”

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