NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- New York City will follow in Washington D.C.’s footsteps by painting “Black Lives Matter” on one street in each of the five boroughs, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday.
Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser renamed a street near the White House “Black Lives Matter Plaza” last week after city staffers painted the phrase across it in giant yellow letters.
On Tuesday, de Blasio said New York would follow suit, by co-naming one street in each borough “Black Lives Matter Way." The city will also team up with community activists to paint “Black Lives Matter” on those streets' roadbeds, he said.
“The streets of our city will now affirm the vital work activists have done to bring us forward,” he said in a statement. “With a street in every borough painted with the words ‘Black Lives Matter,’ we are recognizing where we have been and looking forward to where we will go."
Manhattan’s “Black Lives Matter” tribute will appear on a street near City Hall, the mayor said, without immediately specifying which street or providing a timeline.
The four streets in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and on Staten Island will be chosen “in conjunction with the City Council,” the release added.
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer threw her support behind the proposal — which needs City Council approval — in her own statement on Tuesday.
“Renaming and repainting a street is a modest testament to the massive challenge ahead of us,” she said.
“But in so doing we will, literally, set down a marker for our current goals and mark this era for future generations,” she added. “I’m a history buff; as New Yorkers and visitors walk downtown past some of America’s most historic landmarks, ‘Black Lives Matter Way’ will add to that history.”
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