Weather: Dangerously hot: a high in the mid-90s will seem closer to 100. Afternoon thunderstorms could bring strong gusts.
Parking on the alternative side: Suspended until Sunday.
Almost every week since “Black Lives Matter” was painted in front of Trump Tower in Manhattan, someone has downloaded a bucket of paint in the giant yellow letters.
In one incident, two women yelled “All lives matter” as they ran the three words while paint was applied. Another time, a woman yelled, “Bill de Blasio doesn’t care about blacks!” while smearing street art with paint on her hands and knees.
As of Monday night, the words had been erased by the paint at least five times. Most of the paint shooters were quickly arrested, police said, and city workers repainted the letters.
The disfigurement came as many New Yorkers continue to protest systemic racism and police brutality in the wake of the May 25 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The details
The first incident occurred just four days after the painting was unveiled on July 9, police said. A man walked down the street, the block of Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th streets, with a paper bag, took out a bucket of red paint, and poured it mainly on the word “Lives.” Workers at the City’s Transportation Department quickly cleaned and repainted the letters. No arrests have been made.
Four days later, police said, two women and a man arrived in blue paint; a video showed one of the vandals wearing a shirt that said “All lives matter.”
The next day, a Times reporter saw a group of women throw black paint over the words as they shouted phrases including “Reimburse the police” and “Jesus matters.”
The two most recent incidents occurred on Saturday and Sunday, when a Rochester man threw paint on the street art, police said.
The context
The street project has been seen as the latest dispute in a dispute between Mayor Bill de Blasio and President Trump. The two have repeatedly clashed over New York prosecutors seeking the president’s financial records and the mayor’s presidential primary bid.
In one case last year, the President called Mr. de Blasio “the worst mayor in the United States.” A few months later, Mr. de Blasio told BuzzFeed that Mr. Trump “would not be welcome back in New York City” when he left the White House.
“The president is a disgrace to the values we cherish in New York City,” a spokeswoman for Mr. de Blasio said in June. “Every time you want to set foot in the place that you say is your hometown, you should remind Black Lives Matter.”
In response, the president, who has repeatedly looked down on protesters, wrote on Twitter that the project was a “symbol of hatred.”
The precedent
Fifth Avenue is not the only street in the city painted with “Black Lives Matter”. The words have been placed on Foley Square in Lower Manhattan and on Fulton Street in Brooklyn, among other places.
Across the country, other cities have adopted similar paintings. In Washington, Mayor Muriel Bowser had “Black Lives Matter” painted on a street leading to the White House in early June.
In Portland, Oregon and Cincinnati, street art has also been shattered. And this month in Martinez, California, two people were accused of disfiguring the “Black Lives Matter” signage and charged with a hate crime.
Of the times
Two teens are among the 8 killed on a deadly day in New York City
Transit workers were New York’s pandemic lifeline. These 3 paid a price.
New York postage stamp, with a Native American in loincloths, faces scrutiny
Trump again tries to block the tax citation, calling it ‘wildly overloaded’
Do you want more news? See our complete coverage.
The mini crossword puzzle: Here is today’s puzzle.
What we are reading
Last weekend, 105 bars and restaurantsMainly in New York City, they were cited for violations of social alienation. [Eater New York]
A lot of emergency meals with coronavirus destined for the poor were found abandoned in Queens. [New York Post]
Rents are going down and vacancies are increasing. Could rental regulation to be in danger? [The City]
And finally: a virtual trip to Mars
NASA is about to send a 2,200-pound rover to Mars. The mission, the last of three spacecraft launched to the red planet this summer, will help bring scientists closer to answering long-standing questions about life on other planets and whether Mars could be a base camp for further exploration.
Trapped in their homes millions and millions of miles away, New Yorkers can follow through MarsFest, a series of free online events offered Wednesday by the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. (The museum is closed due to the coronavirus crisis).
“We want to inspire awe right now when everything feels overwhelming and people feel shut in,” said Bella Desai, director of the museum’s public programs. “Science is pushing us forward, and there will be even more opportunities for exploration, discovery, and hope on the other side of this pandemic.”
The rover, Perseverance, is expected to land on Mars in February and collect samples from the planet’s surface. A helicopter called Ingenio is also part of the mission; NASA will make its first attempt to fly a helicopter on another planet.
During MarsFest, a Facebook event at 10 am will introduce Mars to the children. At 1 p.m., the scientists will lead a virtual excursion to the planet through YouTube. And at 8 pm, a live “Space Comedy Jam” will feature stand-up acts, musical performances, and space-related games. Get more details about the day and sign up for the live comedy show on the museum’s website.
“What better way to escape quarantine than to take a virtual excursion to Mars?” Ms. Desai said.
It’s Tuesday – space out.
Metropolitan Diary: your rocker
Dear Diary:
I drove to the Upper West Side on a sunny day last fall to deliver a rocking chair to a young friend who was in her last month of pregnancy. The chair that my mother had given me decades ago when I was pregnant with my first child.
Because a rocking chair is difficult to transport, I was hoping to find a parking space near my friend’s building. Unfortunately, there is no luck. The closest space I could find was on Riverside Drive, near Grant’s Grave, a dozen blocks from his apartment.
After experimenting a bit, I decided that the best way to transport the chair was to hold it by the arms, face down, with the seat on my head and the rocking chairs in the air.
I felt a little visible as I made my way down the sidewalk along Riverside Park. The park was crowded, and I was a gray-haired woman wearing a rocking chair upside down on her head. She was sure she would get some strange looks, and maybe a comment or two.
I shouldn’t have worried. No one blinked.
– Jane Scott
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