Live Protest Updates: Protesters Drop Red Paint On Streets During March From East Harlem To Wall Street – Gothamist

6 p.m. About 100 people gathered on a soggy Thursday for a Black Lives Matter march that started at 110th Street near the top of Central Park, and went all the way down to Wall Street. People were encouraged to bring red paint and spray paint to drip and paint on the streets to "symbolize the blood militant forces such as the police cause Black people to shed."

Theres been blood on the streets for a long time, said Shelby Brown, who helped organize the march. People also tagged streets with FTP and BLM in red spray paint, and at least one corrections van got red paint on it as well. The marchers were trailed by bike cops on the sides and police cars behind, but they didn't react as people tagged the street.

It was for the most part an incredibly peaceful and conflict-free march, especially compared to the aggressive arrests that occurred last week. There was only one altercation: a man was arrested after he allegedly tagged BLM on a sign near 5th Avenue and 79th Street. The young black man, who said his artist name was Lens, spoke to the crowd as cops placed him in flex cuffs. I just tagged a sign that said 'Black Lives Matter' because Black lives matter, he said. And so do black artists. Unlike with the violent arrests of last week, Lens was placed in a police van without injury.

Randu Allah, 66, was watching the situation unfold, and said he didn't agree with the arrest, but was thankful no one was hurt. They arrested that guy properly, he said. They didnt throw him, they didnt put their knee on his chest, they didnt make him down lay on thefloor like some garbage and put his face on the floor.

The marchers made it to Wall Street by about 4 p.m. The NYPD had covered the charging bull with tarp and put up barricades around it, but otherwise, they allowed marchers to pour the remaining paint in the street and continue marching south.

3:45 p.m. Mayor Bill de Blasio renewed his calls for a street named after Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Brooklyns Fort Hamilton military base to be renamed "immediately."

Nothing should be named after Robert E. Lee at this point in history, the mayor said during a press conference this morning. Hes someone who was supposed to follow his oath to the United States of America and the United States military and didnton top of his many other sins and on top of the racism that he stood for. He added, Anything named after him has to go in this city.

During the presser, Deputy Mayor Phil Thompson said that his ancestors on his fathers side were enslaved on a plantation run by Lees father Henry Lee.

This issue is an emotional issue for many people like me, Thompson said. And its really hard for us to really feel fully part of this country that celebrates our enslavement with names like that [at] military bases all across this country.

De Blasio noted that he doesn't have the authority to rename the street himself, but said he would contact the military to implore them to do so: Ive built relationships with some of the senior military in the context of the coronavirus crisis and I will reach out to them and let them know how important it is to remove the name of Robert E. Lee not only at Fort Hamilton, but everywhere else, he added.

Back in the summer of 2017, de Blasio as well as other politicians, including U.S. Representative Yvette Clarke, called for General Lee Avenue and Stonewall Jackson Drive, both located in Fort Hamilton, to be renamed. But the Army declined the request at the time, claiming the streets were named after the Confederate generals "in the spirit of reconciliation" and that "after over a century, any effort to rename memorializations on Fort Hamilton would be controversial and divisive."

At a separate press conference today, Governor Andrew Cuomo said that he didn't think the statue of Christopher Columbus should be removed from Columbus Circle.

"I understand the feelings about Christopher Columbus and some of his acts, which nobody would support," Cuomo said. "But the statue has come to represent and signify appreciation for the Italian-American contribution to New York, so for that reason I support it."

BROOKLYN:

3 p.m.: 443 St. Marks Avenue

7 p.m.: St. Johns Place and Franklin Avenue

7 p.m.: McCarren Park

MANHATTAN:

1 p.m.: 110th Street and 5th Avenue

4 p.m.: Washington Square Park

7 p.m.: Vigil at Carl Schurz

QUEENS:

5 p.m.: Baseball Field at 114th Street and 34th Avenue

5:30 p.m.: Lt. Frank McConnel Park (corner of 120st Street and Atlantic Avenue)

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Live Protest Updates: Protesters Drop Red Paint On Streets During March From East Harlem To Wall Street - Gothamist

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