New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Reverend Al Sharpton were both spotted outside Trump Tower in Manhattan helping to paint a Black Lives Matter mural.
People in the city began painting the anticipated mural on Thursday morning, and a block of Fifth Avenue will be closed until Sunday to complete the project. De Blasio, an outspoken critic of President Trump, was seen working alongside his wife, Chirlane McCray, and Sharpton to help construct the message being written in yellow on the street.
The New York City Mayor’s Office Twitter account posted a photo of their work, with the caption, “The message is clear from the streets to the skyline: #BlackLivesMatter.”
The message is clear from the streets to the skyline: #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/za4HU5vedO
— NYC Mayor’s Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) July 9, 2020
From Fifth Avenue to Fulton Street to Richmond Terrace, NYC has a message for the world: #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/wtkzCHpURm
— NYC Mayor’s Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) July 9, 2020
Some, however, heckled the mayor while he painted, according to the New York Post. A group of men reportedly shouted “douchebag de Blasio” at him, and a woman said, “Hitler told us all lives didn’t matter, too!”
“This is such an important moment for our city,” de Blasio told volunteers. “We are making a statement today of what we value in New York City.”
New York Rep. Lee Zeldin took to Twitter to denounce the move as “trolling.”
“Fascinatingly ineffective, first of its kind strategy in progress by Mayor DeBlasio: At the same time, he is both asking the President for a $7.4 BILLION bailout while also trolling the President by painting this mural in front of Trump Tower in NYC,” the Republican wrote, referring to the federal aid de Blasio requested because of the financial fallout from the coronavirus.
Fascinatingly ineffective, first of its kind strategy in progress by Mayor DeBlasio: At the same time, he is both asking the President for a $7.4 BILLION bailout while also trolling the President by painting this mural in front of Trump Tower in NYC.
pic.twitter.com/WneNPtg0kO— Lee Zeldin (@RepLeeZeldin) July 9, 2020
Law enforcement analyst and former FBI official James A. Gagliano echoed Zeldin’s sentiment as the city grapples with skyrocketing violent crime, a surge in police officer retirements, and civil unrest.
“NYC descending into dystopian hellscape of spiraling criminality, businesses fleeing to ‘burbs, NYPD cops retiring in droves w/budget slashed, and anarchy, lawlessness tolerated. To counter, Bill DeBlasio and Al Sharpton paint BLM slogan in front of Trump property,” he wrote on Twitter.
NYC descending into dystopian hellscape of spiraling criminality, businesses fleeing to ‘burbs, NYPD cops retiring in droves w/budget slashed, and anarchy, lawlessness tolerated. To counter, Bill DeBlasio and Al Sharpton paint BLM slogan in front of Trump property. h/t: @1010WINS pic.twitter.com/9d6YyGjCOB
— James A. Gagliano (@JamesAGagliano) July 9, 2020
Trump slammed the mayor on July 1 over the planned mural, citing the city slashing its police budget by $1 billion but authorizing “a big, expensive, yellow Black Lives Matter” mural on one of the country’s most famous streets.
“NYC is cutting Police $’s by ONE BILLION DOLLARS, and yet the @NYCMayor is going to paint a big, expensive, yellow Black Lives Matter sign on Fifth Avenue, denigrating this luxury Avenue,” Trump said.
