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COURIER L 10 IFE, JUNE 12-18, 2020
‘A gargantuan
misunderstanding’
Contractor mistakenly paints over sprawling
Black Lives Matter murals in Gowanus
A contractor paints over a Black Lives Matter mural in Gowanus on June 9, which developers
claim was a “misunderstanding.” Gowanus Current
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Whoops!
A worker painted over a series of
Black Lives Matter murals on a construction
fence on Fourth Avenue in
Gowanus on June 9, in an incident the
developer of the site claims was a “gargantuan
misunderstanding.”
“This person did it with no bad intentions.
She simply thought that she was
doing the work she was supposed to be
doing. She did not realize that she was
accidentally painting over the artwork,”
said Brian Ezra, a principal at Avery
Hall Investments, which owns the lot between
Sackett and Union streets. “It was
a gargantuan misunderstanding.”
Passersby noticed the woman slapping
on a coat of green paint on top of the
murals Tuesday morning, but she told
one local she was just doing her job.
“She didn’t speak much English and
I don’t speak much Spanish, but she told
me it’s not her choice,” said Chris Reynolds,
a Gowanus documentary fi lmmaker
who posted a picture on Twitter
of her halfway through fi nishing the
job.
Ezra said that the worker is an independent
contractor who usually cleans
up the developer’s construction sites, occasionally
removing graffi ti. He claimed
that Avery Hall Investments did not give
her any directives to cover up the artwork,
but said that she performed the
job because Phase 1 of the city’s post-
COVID-19 reopening on June 8 allowed
for non-essential construction work like
cleaning sites to resume.
“She had no direction from us whatsoever
to go paint over the art work,”
Ezra said. “She thought that it was time
for her to recommence things like site
cleanups because of Phase 1.”
A spokesman for the developer later
added that, because the woman doesn’t
speak English, she didn’t know what the
murals said.
The building fi rm noticed that graffi
ti artists had started painting over
their green construction fence a little
more than a week ago with some muralists
calling it the “Wall of Justice.” According
to Ezra, the company reached
out to one of the artists, who goes by the
name Subway Doodle, to expand on it
in the coming days by attaching an artwork
to the canopy of the lot’s disused
gas station.
“We reached out to the artist and
expressed how much we appreciated
the work he was doing,” Ezra said. “We
didn’t go public because we didn’t think
there was any need to.”
They have since asked the artists to
help restore the covered works, which
Subway Doodle catalogued on his Instagram
page during the last week.
The street artist, who joined others
in starting to repaint a new mural Tuesday
afternoon, said that while he was
sad to see his work destroyed, he was
glad it wasn’t done by some bigot.
“At fi rst we thought it was some racist
vandal, so I was relieved to fi nd out it
was just an innocent mistake from someone
who didn’t really know what it was,”
said Subway Doodle, who requested not
to be quoted by his real name.
City buildings regulations state
that construction fences “shall be
painted hunter green,” but offi cials
have in the past launched an initiative
dubbed City Canvas to allow artists to
paint over them to make them more
appealing.
The Fourth Avenue wall is not under
that program, but Ezra said that, even
though he wasn’t sure about the regulations,
the artwork just “felt right.”
3 Months.
100,000 Meals.
As the virus began to spread in New York, Catholic Charities Brooklyn and
Queens immediately began to feel the impact. Residents reached out for
counseling to deal with the anxiety caused by the virus, as well as fears due to
an uncertain future caused by unemployment and poverty. Within a few short
weeks, employees at our food pantries were dealing with a 200% increase in
food requests.
“Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens has served on the front-lines of
emergency response for years, so we were able to quickly turn our attention to
emergency crisis care,” said Monsignor Alfred LoPinto, President and CEO.
The Catholic Charities network of food pantries, senior centers, residences
and home delivered meals have provided more than 300,000 meals during
the crisis. Catholic Charities also provides weekly pop-up food pantry sites,
distributing more than 100,000 meals since March 24th.
“Staff members have provided counseling by phone to those suffering from
anxiety and depression and extended a helping hand through our call centers
Monsignor LoPinto. “Our teachers in our early childhood centers are teaching
remotely and providing daily activities for children and families, and our staff are
calling our older adults daily to make sure they are ok.”
To help Catholic Charities continue this vital work, donate today
at www.ccbq.org.
About Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens: For 120 years, Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens has been
providing quality social services to the neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Queens, and currently offers 160-plus
programs and services for children, youth, adults, older adults, and those struggling with mental illness.
As one of the largest faith-based developers of affordable housing in the country, Catholic Charities provides
4,330 units of housing for low-income seniors, families, veterans, the formerly homeless, those with HIV and
those struggling with mental illness. For additional information, visit our website at www.ccbq.org.
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