People in New York City have begun painting a Black Lives Matter mural outside of Trump Tower in Manhattan.
A block of Fifth Avenue will be closed until Sunday as the mural is constructed, according to a reporter with local outlet WPIX.
.@NYC_DOT supervisor tells me the block will he closed to cars until Sunday, then traffic will be free to drive through the mural. https://t.co/W6q5GiU1UI
— Anthony DiLorenzo (@ADiLorenzoTV) July 9, 2020
A spokeswoman for Mayor Bill de Blasio, Julia Arredondo, confirmed the plan for the mural earlier this summer, suggesting its location was intentional.
“The president is a disgrace to the values we cherish in New York City,” she said in a statement. “He can’t run or deny the reality we are facing, and any time he wants to set foot in the place he claims is his hometown, he should be reminded Black Lives Matter.”
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 of the painting.
….horrible BLM chant, “Pigs In A Blanket, Fry ‘Em Like Bacon”. Maybe our GREAT Police, who have been neutralized and scorned by a mayor who hates & disrespects them, won’t let this symbol of hate be affixed to New York’s greatest street. Spend this money fighting crime instead!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2020
The president added that the mural is a “symbol of hate.”
Black Lives Matter murals have popped up across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death while he was in police custody, including one in California that is thought to be the largest in the United States.
The Laugh Factory, a comedy club in Hollywood, unveiled on Tuesday a 148-foot-long mural that depicts people such as Floyd and others who died during interactions with law enforcement officials.
“This mural is an important avenue for Black artists to present societal challenges in a public and impactful way through the lens of their experiences,” club owner Jamie Masada said of the mural.
