See the ‘Black Lives Matter’ mural in front of Trump Tower
All photos by Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
After announcing last month that he’d be painting “Black Lives Matter” in front of Trump Tower, Mayor de Blasio today helped paint the mural in bright yellow letters outside the building on Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets. “Let’s show Donald Trump what he does not understand, let’s paint it right in front of his building for him,” the mayor said today.
The mural is one of seven coming to the five boroughs. Last month, the mayor unveiled five streets that are set to be painted with the movement’s motto, with some streets also set to be co-named after the Black Lives Matter movement.
The large artwork will be designed along Centre Street in Manhattan, Richmond Terrace on Staten Island, Joralemon Street in Brooklyn, 153rd Street in Queens, and Morris Avenue in the Bronx. A Black Lives Matter mural already popped up on Fulton Street in Bed-Stuy. De Blasio’s decision comes after Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C. renamed the street in front of the White House “Black Lives Matter Plaza” and painted the slogan in giant yellow letters on its pavement.
While President Trump officially changed his primary residence from New York to Florida last year, secret service are still on-site at Trump Tower. And the mural is not the city’s first attempt at trolling the president. Last summer, an online petition to rename the stretch of Fifth Avenue in front of the Midtown tower after former President Barack Obama tower took off and now has more than 475,000 signatures.
At the event this afternoon, Mayor de Blasio said:
When I announced that we would be doing this here, President Trump said that we would be denigrating the luxury of Fifth Avenue. Let me tell you, we are not denigrating anything. We are liberating Fifth Avenue. We are uplifting Fifth Avenue. Who built this city, who built this nation, and never got the acknowledgment, the recognition, the compensation So, when we say Black Lives Matter, there is no more American statement, there is no more patriotic statement because there is no America without Black America.
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published on June 25, 2020, and has been updated.
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All photos by Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
