This morning New York City workers shut down the block of Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th streets in Manhattan where Trump Tower stands and got to work painting an enormous Black Lives Matter mural.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a frequent critic of the president, grabbed a paint roller to join the effort.
Last month, at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, Mayor de Blasio announced that each borough in New York City would get its own BLM mural. But location of this one in Manhattan can only be viewed at a direct dig at the president.
The mural is positioned directly in front of Trump Tower, a 58-floor skyscraper that houses both the headquarters for the Trump Organization and the president’s penthouse condo.
The block will be closed to traffic for several days, according to city authorities, to allow for pedestrians to come and look at the mural.
Early this morning, onlookers and news crews turned out early to watch as police cleared the area and workers in yellow Black Lives Matter t-shirts grabbed paint rollers.
“I’m extremely proud to be here today. Black lives matter,” 70-year-old Ellen Myers told the NY Post as she watched the workers. “This administration has encouraged racism in this country and I think this is the perfect place for this mural.”
While this is not the first Black Lives Matter mural to appear in an American city, the Manhattan mural has drawn a particularly angry reaction from President Trump. When it was announced late last month, President Trump called it “a symbol of hate” that would be “denigrating” Fifth Avenue, known for high-priced apartment buildings and luxury shopping. Within steps of Trump Tower are the storefronts for Gucci, Prada, Bulgari and Tiffany, among other posh brands.
This is just the latest among dozens of Black Lives Matter murals to have popped up in cities across the country. The first appeared in Washington D.C., where the intersection at H and 16th streets was renamed “Black Lives Matter Plaza” and the words were emblazoned in big, yellow letters on the pavement.
Within a week, similar murals started popping up around the country. From Oakland, C.A. to Charlotte, N.C. and from Albany, N.Y. to Dallas, T.X., artists have painted Black Lives Matter on city streets.
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I’m always looking for new ways to travel better, smarter, deeper and cheaper, so I spend a lot of time watching trends at the intersection of travel and technology. As a
I’m always looking for new ways to travel better, smarter, deeper and cheaper, so I spend a lot of time watching trends at the intersection of travel and technology. As a longtime freelance travel writer, I’ve contributed hundreds of articles to Conde Nast Traveler, CNN Travel, Travel Leisure, Afar, Reader’s Digest, TripSavvy, Parade, NBCNews.com, Good Housekeeping, Parents, Parenting, Esquire, Newsweek, The Boston Globe and scores of other outlets. Over the years, I’ve run an authoritative family vacation-planning site; interviewed Michelin-starred chefs, ship captains, taxi drivers and dog mushers; reviewed hundreds of places to stay, from stately castles and windswept lighthouses to rustic cabins and kitschy motels; ridden the iconic Orient Express; basked in the glory of Machu Picchu; and much more. Follow me on Instagram (@suzannekelleher), Pinterest (@suzannerowankelleher) and Flipboard (@SRKelleher).