New York: “Falun Dafa Is Good” Banner Flown Over Manhattan Marks Anniversary of April 25 Appeal

(Minghui.org) A huge banner with the words “Falun Dafa is good” was flown over the Hudson River in Manhattan to commemorate the 26^th anniversary of the April 25 appeal on April 25, 2025. It was a spectacular sight.

A banner with the message “Falun Dafa is good” was flown over the Hudson River in Manhattan on April 25, 2025.

Video: Huge banner reading “Falun Dafa is good” flew over the Hudson River in Manhattan

The banner, with red characters on a yellow background, was 80-feet long and 14-feet high. It flew north from the Statue of Liberty at the southernmost tip of Manhattan to 80th Street over the Hudson River, passing several landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty, the World Trade Center, the Empire State Building, Fifth Avenue, and Central Park.

Matthew, the planner of the event, said that April 25, 1999 was a day that would be remembered in history. The purpose for flying the banner was to tell the world: In the turbulent times when morals are declining, Falun Dafa is spread to save sentient beings. Please remember the words “Falun Dafa is good,” which are very important to everyone’s life. If you treat Dafa well, you will be blessed with happiness and peace. The banner also flew past the Chinese Consulate, expressing the Falun Dafa practitioners’ demand that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) end the persecution.

Background: What Is the April 25 Appeal?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries worldwide. Millions of people have embraced the teachings—which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance as well as five gentle exercises—and experienced improved health and well-being.

On April 23 & 24, 1999, police officials in Tianjin, a city near Beijing, assaulted and arrested dozens of practitioners who had gathered outside a magazine office to discuss errors in a recently-published article attacking Falun Dafa. As word spread of the arrests and more practitioners inquired with officials, they were told they had to take their appeals to Beijing.

The following day, April 25, some 10,000 Falun Dafa practitioners spontaneously gathered at the Central Appeals office in Beijing, as they had been instructed by Tianjin officials. The gathering was peaceful and orderly. Several Falun Dafa representatives were called in to meet with Chinese Premier, Zhu Rongji, and members of his staff. That evening, practitioners' concerns were answered. The arrested practitioners in Tianjin were released and everyone went home.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the CCP, perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology and issued an order to ban Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners due to the persecution over the years; the actual number is suspected to be much higher. More have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply the organ transplant industry.