Some organizations, including the
Museum of the City of New York mounted temporary public art installations that highlighted the intersections between the BLM protests and the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
On June 9, Mayor
Bill de Blasio announced plans to rename and paint in each of the five
boroughs of New York City in honor of Black Lives Matter in consultation with city leaders, advocates, and the city council. He stated "It's time to do something officially representing this city to recognize the power of the fundamental idea of Black Lives Matter, the idea that so much of American history has wrongly renounced, but now must be affirmed."[8][9][10] Efforts were made to have the murals reflect their locations, as well as the overall movement.[11]
On June 14, volunteers painted "Black Lives Matter" in yellow along Fulton Street in the
Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of
Brooklyn.[12] The second mural was painted on June 19 along Richmond Terrace on the
North Shore of
Staten Island between the borough hall and a police precinct.[13]
Plans were stated for murals along 153rd Street in the
Jamaica neighborhood of
Queens, Center Street in
Manhattan, and Morris Avenue in
the Bronx.[14] Two additional murals were planned for Manhattan, including one on
Fifth Avenue in front of
Trump Tower, reminiscent of the original mural in front of the White House.[15] The plan for Fifth Avenue was criticized by
Donald Trump, as he called it a "symbol of hate" and criticized Blasio for defunding the police by $1 billion while authorizing the mural.[16][17] The mural on Fifth Avenue was painted on July 9, 2020, with help from Mayor de Blasio and members of the
Central Park Five.[18][19]