De Blasio plans to install Black Lives Matter mural in front of Trump Tower
By Larry Celona and Julia Marsh
New York Post
June 24, 2020
Mayor Bill de Blasio is planning to install a massive Black Lives Matter mural right outside Trump Tower in Manhattan, The Post has learned.
Plans for the mural — which will be painted in yellow block letters along Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th streets — come as the city grapples with troubling surges in gun violence and illegal firework activity.
“Obviously he is doing it to antagonize the president,” a source said. “This is what he is concerned about while the city burns. What an amateur politician.”
The source said the mayor’s office reached out to the Department of Transportation about the feasibility of the mural — but it was mentioned that de Blasio wanted it done.
The idea had originated from a June 7 meeting with community leaders and activists, including the Rev. Kevin McCall and Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, a source said.
De Blasio hatched the idea a few days after Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser had “Black Lives Matter” painted along a street leading to the White House, according to a second source. The plan was finalized last week — after locations for the other murals across the five boroughs were announced on Juneteenth, the source said.
The slogan will be stenciled outside Trump Tower, where President Trump stays when he’s in town, sometime before July 4th weekend.
The installation is one of seven that will pop up across all five boroughs. Three are now planned for Manhattan — along Centre Street in Lower Manhattan, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard in Harlem and in front of Trump Tower.
Hizzoner’s plan comes as the Big Apple has been rocked by an unprecedented amount of shootings this month — including 53 incidents from June 15 through Sunday, the highest mark for a single week since de Blasio took office.
Residents have also been rattled by incessant firework activity, prompting some fed-up drivers to honk their horns near Gracie Mansion on Monday.
EDITOR'S NOTE: President Trump has tweeted, "Black Lives Matter leader states, 'If U.S. doesn’t give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it.' This is Treason, Sedition, Insurrection!"
And that is who de Blasio is honoring.
Plans for the mural — which will be painted in yellow block letters along Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th streets — come as the city grapples with troubling surges in gun violence and illegal firework activity.
“Obviously he is doing it to antagonize the president,” a source said. “This is what he is concerned about while the city burns. What an amateur politician.”
The source said the mayor’s office reached out to the Department of Transportation about the feasibility of the mural — but it was mentioned that de Blasio wanted it done.
The idea had originated from a June 7 meeting with community leaders and activists, including the Rev. Kevin McCall and Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, a source said.
De Blasio hatched the idea a few days after Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser had “Black Lives Matter” painted along a street leading to the White House, according to a second source. The plan was finalized last week — after locations for the other murals across the five boroughs were announced on Juneteenth, the source said.
The slogan will be stenciled outside Trump Tower, where President Trump stays when he’s in town, sometime before July 4th weekend.
The installation is one of seven that will pop up across all five boroughs. Three are now planned for Manhattan — along Centre Street in Lower Manhattan, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard in Harlem and in front of Trump Tower.
Hizzoner’s plan comes as the Big Apple has been rocked by an unprecedented amount of shootings this month — including 53 incidents from June 15 through Sunday, the highest mark for a single week since de Blasio took office.
Residents have also been rattled by incessant firework activity, prompting some fed-up drivers to honk their horns near Gracie Mansion on Monday.
A spokeswoman for the mayor explained what motivated de Blasio to have the slogan painted in front of Trump Tower.
“The President is a disgrace to the values we cherish in New York
City,” Julia Arredondo said. “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.”EDITOR'S NOTE: President Trump has tweeted, "Black Lives Matter leader states, 'If U.S. doesn’t give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it.' This is Treason, Sedition, Insurrection!"
And that is who de Blasio is honoring.
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