Someone spray painted over two parts of a sprawling Black Lives Matter mural in Gowanus to suggest the phrase “All Lives Matter.” Photo by Ben Verde
Vandals deface Black Lives Matter murals in Gowanus
BY BEN VERDE
Vandals defaced a pair of
adjoining Black Lives Matter
murals in Gowanus by spray
painting the common refrain
“All Lives Matter” over the
block-long works of art.
The canvases, which live
on a construction fence near
Union Street and Fourth Avenue,
depict a young signholding
COURIER L 6 IFE, AUGUST 7-13, 2020
Black girl, along
with a block-text signage of
the “Black Lives Matter” slogan
— but the scoffl aws used
red paint to scribble the word
“All” in several places over
the word “Black.”
The construction site is
owned by developer Avery
Hall, who lamented the vandalism
and promised to reach
out to the local artists who
painted the murals to discuss
restoring the art.
“We are very proud of the
work that local artists have
done at our site to support the
Black Lives Matter movement,
and do not condone this act,”
said Avery Hall rep Brian
Ezra.
It isn’t the fi rst time the
murals have been disrupted,
as an Avery Hall contractor
mistakenly painted over the
original murals — which Ezra
described as a “gargantuan
misunderstanding.”
Other large murals depicting
Black Lives Matter
signage across the city have
also been frequent targets of
defacing — such as the citysponsored
mural in front of
Trump Tower in Manhattan,
which has been vandalized
at least fi ve times. In one instance,
a lawbreaker covered
the yellow text in red paint,
and on another occasion, two
conservative provocateurs injured
a policeman while being
arrested for sprawling black
over the painting.
WE ARE PLEASED TO BE
SERVING OVER THREE
MILLION
PEOPLE IN PRINT,
DIGITAL, EVENTS AND
BROADCASTING
TO ADVERTISE, CALL
718-260-2500