A musician at the Metropolitan Opera found a noose hanging from a locker room pipe, and cops are investigating it as a possible hate crime, police said Monday.
The orchestra musician found the noose hanging from a pipe at the Lincoln Center Plaza Opera House on the Upper West Side at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday — just before the opera’s performance of “Turnadot” was set to begin.
A security guard called police that night, police sources said.
The musician who found the noose is white. Police are trying to determine if it was meant to intimidate or target blacks or anyone in particular, cop sources said.
“This is a very disturbing incident for the members of our company and, if it was a deliberate act of racial hate, we would like to find out as soon as possible to help guide our next steps,” said Met spokesman Tim McKeough.
“Turnadot,” by Giacomo Puccini, tells the story of a princess in China who challenges her suitor, Prince Calaf, to solve three riddles if he wants to marry her. Any wrong answer means his death.
