Banners from HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’ are not flying on New York bridges as videos online suggest

CLAIM: Banners from the HBO series “House of the Dragon” are hanging from the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. There are no banners hanging from either bridge, an Associated Press reporter who went to the area Monday confirmed. Videos spreading online that show the New York landmarks adorned with “House of the Dragon” banners circulated in the runup to the start of the second season of the “Game of Thrones” prequel. A spokesperson for the New York City Department of Transportation told the AP that the agency is “not aware” of any such banners.

THE FACTS: Social media users are sharing the videos ahead of the season two premiere on Sunday, claiming that the banners are real.

One video shows a shot of the Brooklyn Bridge as it appears from Plymouth Street between Dock Street and New Dock Street in Brooklyn’s DUMBO neighborhood. Two large, green banners with a gold crest hang from one of the iconic stone towers on the Brooklyn side of the bridge.

“BREAKING: Westeros Banners have been raised around NYC,” reads a caption on the clip.

In another video, two black banners with a red crest hang from the Manhattan Bridge tower closest to Brooklyn. It was shot from at the intersection of Washington and Front streets, a popular spot in DUMBO for taking pictures of the bridge.

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“Westeros banners hanging from the Brooklyn Bridge for ‘HOUSE OF THE DRAGON’ Season 2,” reads one X post that had received more than 40,000 likes and 3,800 shares as of Monday.

A caption added to a TikTok video that combines the two clips states: “Game of Thrones taking over NYC.” It was viewed approximately 10,400 times.

But the banners are not real.

An AP reporter on Monday about 1 p.m. went to the area where each video was filmed and confirmed no banners were hanging from either bridge. Moreover, the first video appears to have been shot in colder weather, as the trees and bushes that appear in the foreground with no leaves are now covered in green foliage.

Vincent Barone, a spokesperson for the New York City Department of Transportation, told the AP that the agency is “not aware of these banner displays” and that the footage “appears to be digitally altered.”

The “Game of Thrones” X account shared both videos, along with similar images of other landmarks worldwide. A New York tourism Instagram account posted the first video and marked it as a “paid partnership” with “House of the Dragon.”

The banners represent two factions of a civil war in the fictional “House of the Dragon” universe who are fighting for control of the Iron Throne.

Those fooled included the local television station News12 Brooklyn, which published an article Monday claiming that “House of the Dragon” banners had really been raised on the bridges. News12 did not respond to an inquiry from the AP, but has since updated the story, calling the videos “computer-generated.”
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This is part of the AP’s effort to address widely shared false and misleading information that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.