Harlem Black Lives Matter Mural Damaged By Tire Tracks: Report

HARLEM, NY — A Black Lives Matter mural in Harlem was damaged before painters could even complete the artwork when a car drove over it, according to reports.

Tire tracks and skid marks were left on the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard mural over the July 4 weekend, NBC New York first reported. Local artists, Harlem community leaders, notable neighborhood residents and elected officials kicked off an effort to paint the mural on Friday, July 3.

Volunteers from neighborhood organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club of Harlem, Harlem Pride, Harlem Grown, Uptown Grand Central and Got to Stop will help create the public artwork. Harlem Park to Park is funding the mural's creation in partnership with Got to Stop Social Impact Agency. Despite Mayor Bill de Blasio's presence at the mural kickoff, the artwork is not receiving public funds.

"It is important to the Harlem community that we understand this project is a love letter to Harlem from Harlem. We as a nonprofit organization in Harlem felt strongly that if a Black Lives Matter mural was coming to Manhattan, it should be in Harlem," Harlem Park to Park Executive Director, Nikoa Evans-Hendricks, said in a statement.

Harlem State Senator Brian Benjamin and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer helped the community group secure approvals from the city Department of Transportation.

"It is incredibly important to me that as we place Black Lives Matter street murals across New York City that we place one in Harlem. These street murals are not only a statement of resistance to institutional racism and oppression but they are also a symbol of pride to those who have been historically marginalized. It is just as important that young Black children in Harlem see signs that say Black Lives Matter as it is for prosecutors, police and President Trump," Benjamin said in a statement.

The mural's design mirrors others around the country, based on a mural painted in Washington, D.C. leading up to the White House at Mayor Muriel Bowser's direction. The public art installation will stretch on both sides of Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard between 125th and 127th streets. Local artists LeRone Wilson, Jason Wallace, Omo Misha, Guy Stanley Philoche, LesNY Felix, Thomas Heath, Dianne Smith and Joyous Pierce also contributed original designs to the mural.

Harlem Park to Park will unveil the finished mural on the morning of Wednesday, July 8.