Over the last month, Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced that several street murals would be painted in each of the five boroughs to commemorate the Black Lives Matter movement. So far they have gone up in Harlem, Lower Manhattan, Downtown Brooklyn, and Staten Island—and today, the city is painting one on Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th streets, right in front of Trump Tower. In fact, facing Trump Tower.
Mayor de Blasio is in attendance for the painting, which started just after 11 a.m. on Thursday. We'll update once the full piece is done.
“I’m extremely proud to be here today. Black lives matter,” retired Manhattan resident Ellen Myers, 70, told the Post as she watched the painting happen. “This country has treated people of color less than whites, which has resulted in what we’re seeing go on in the news. This administration has encouraged racism in this country and I think this is the perfect place for this mural.”
After de Blasio first announced these plans a few weeks ago, Donald Trump expressed his anger over the idea, decrying it in a series of tweets last week: “This will further antagonize New York’s Finest, who LOVE New York & vividly remember the 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!”
The painting was originally scheduled to begin last Thursday, but was delayed until this week.
