New York City paints Black Lives Matter mural outside Trump Tower in Manhattan

New York City is painting a Black Lives Matter mural on the street directly outside of Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan. City employees began painting a stretch of Fifth Avenue, just in front of the Trump Organization's headquarters, on Thursday morning. Mayor Bill de Blasio authorized the stark yellow mural earlier this month.
The New York mayor rolled up his sleeves and painted a bit of the mural, too, clad in a mask and flanked by civil rights leader, the Rev. Al Sharpton.
"President Trump said we would be denigrating the luxury of Fifth Avenue. Let me tell you: we're not denigrating anything, we are liberating Fifth Avenue, we are uplifting Fifth Avenue," de Blasio said on Thursday in response to Trump's tweet last week criticizing de Blasio for "denigrating" the area.
He added, "Who built this city, who built this nation, and never got the acknowledgement, the recognition..."

"When we say 'Black Lives Matter' there is no more American statement, there's no more patriotic statement, because there is no America without Black America. We are acknowledging the truth in ourselves and in America. By saying 'Black lives matter' we are righting a wrong," de Blasio said.
Our city isn't just painting the words on Fifth Avenue. We're committed to the meaning of the message. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/VE6MT80qDI
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) July 9, 2020
President Donald Trump fumed at the plan after it was announced by city officials earlier this month.
He called the words "Black Lives Matter" a "symbol of hate" and suggested that police officers could block the work: "Maybe our GREAT Police, who have been neutralized and scorned by a mayor who hates & disrespects them, won't let this symbol of hate be affixed to New York's greatest street. Spend this money fighting crime instead!"
CNN has reached out to the Trump Organization for comment.
The mural marks the second time the words appeared in large letters outside one of Trump's homes; Washington's mayor had the term painted in large yellow letters on a street near the White House last month.