A mural with the words Black Lives Matter will soon emblazon Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, right in front of one specific landmark: Trump Tower.
On Thursday morning, work crews blocked off traffic between 56th and 57th Streets. Groups of painters then used rollers to start filling in large yellow letters on the pavement.
President Trump derided the mural plan last week, saying it would be "denigrating this luxury Avenue" and antagonize the city's police as "a symbol of hate."
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio responded: "Black people BUILT 5th Ave and so much of this nation. Your 'luxury' came from THEIR labor, for which they have never been justly compensated. We are honoring them. The fact that you see it as denigrating your street is the definition of racism."
The new artwork takes a cue from another mural at Trump's doorstep.
In early June, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser had the words Black Lives Matter painted in huge yellow letters on the street that leads to the White House. Local activists soon added the words "Defund The Police."
Across New York City, Black Lives Matter murals have been painted on the streets. One in bright yellow in Bedford Stuyvesant. A colorful, eclectic one in Lower Manhattan. In Harlem, a multicolored mural that spans both sides of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard.
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