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ALSO COVERING ELMHURST, JACKSON HEIGHTS, LONG ISLAND CITY, MASPETH, MIDDLE VILLAGE, REGO PARK, SUNNYSIDE
Aug. 7-13, 2020
BLACK LIVES MATTER AVENUE
Mayor joins community members, local leaders to unveil new street sign in Jamaica
BY JACOB KAYE
A handful of elected officials,
including Mayor Bill
de Blasio, joined community
leaders in Jamaica on Thursday,
July 30, to paint the
words “Black Lives Matter”
on Jamaica Avenue between
150th and 153rd streets. In
addition to the mural, a new
street sign now rests at the
corner of Jamaica Avenue
and 153rd Street that reads
“Black Lives Matter Avenue.”
The mural is one of several
to be painted on streets
across the city — including
one in Manhattan, painted
on Fifth Avenue in front of
Trump Tower that has been
vandalized multiple times.
“A lot of us were there at
Trump Tower sending that
message to someone who really
needed to get it and still
needs to get it,” de Blasio
said. “Now we’re sending a
message here in Queens.”
As de Blasio painted alongside
community members, a
crowd around them chanted
“Black Lives Matter.”
Hizzoner added that the
painting was a “kickoff to
something bigger.”
“When we all agree to
take money from the NYPD
budget and put it into the
youth programs and recreation
centers and summer
youth employment, that is a
part of change,” the mayor
said. “When we reform the
relationship between police
and community that is part
of change. When we create a
commission to literally identify
every element of structural
racism in our government
and end it. Change
those laws and policies.”
Councilman I. Daneek
Miller said the mural marks
a space for members of the
community to come and discuss
the issues that effect
Photo by Dean Moses
them in the coming week.
“This is where we will
have public discourse about
our community, full week
of activities, to talk about
health care, education, religion,
we talk about the arts
and culture. We will talk
about our legacy in this community
and it is important
that everyone come out and
take part in our activities,”
Miller said.
The plan to paint Black
Lives Matter murals across
city streets came during the
height of the George Floyd
protests in New York City.
Among the protesters’ demands
was a $1 billion cut
to the NYPD’s budget. While
the City Council and mayor
said their June 30 budget met
those demands, many said
the cuts were not sufficient.
Director of Organizing
for VOCAL-NY Jawanza Williams
said at the time that the
organization was “appalled”
by the city’s leaders “deceptive
decisions,” lack of transparency
and “stonewalling”
in the face of national call
for racial justice and police
reform.
About $400 million of
NYPD’s $1 billion cuts came
from moving school safety
officers to the Department
of Education despite the department
already sending
the NYPD $300 million a year
to run the school safety program.
The city also reduced
NYPD overtime by $350 million
to reach the $1 billion
goal.
Additional reporting by
Dean Moses.
Vol. 8 No. 32 24 total pages
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