By Dan Murphy
A painting of “Black Lives Matter!” on a Yonkers street downtown is under consideration, with two questions being when and where it will happen. Similar paintings have already happened in New York City and across the country.
Mayor Mike Spano and City Councilmembers have begun the conversation. Possible locations include on South Broadway, facing City Hall, and on either roadway across from the daylighitng at Van der Donck Park, formerly Larkin Plaza. One issue raised about having the BLM painting on S. Broadway is that it would be next to the City’s Veterans Memorial.
One time to paint or unveil the work would be for the rescheduled Yonkers Arts Weekend, YAW, to be held on October 3. That date, is more than 2 months away, and some may want it up sooner. No word yet on whether the City Council will get involved, only by a resoution in support, or what City Agencies would be involved or need to approve it.
The photo above has BLM along Main Street in the downtown. While this is another possible option, it is considered a ‘tight space’ for any protest but as one supporter put it, “painting Black Lives Matter on Main Street is important because it is Main Street. And anoyne who wanted to march or protest and walk down to the Pier and the River, or walk up to City Hall.”
President Donald Trump and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio have clashed over the BLM painting along 5th Avenue, near Trump Tower.
Garbage Bins Update:
Mayor Mike Spano recently issued the following statement on his weekly email blast to residents. “I’ve noticed an uptick in the trash in the city’s downtown area, especially in the past few days.
Working with the different homeowner groups, Department of Public Works, and Parks Department, we are creating a plan to address these issues. In the meantime, I’ve instructed the Department of Public Works to clean up our downtown area. Protecting the quality of life for our residents is and will continue to be my top concern,” writes Spano.
Last week, we wrote about some residents complaints about the quality of life in the downtown, including the lack of garbage bins. That discussion included comments from City Council President Mike Khader, DPW Commissioner Tom Meier and the residents.
Visit YonkersTimes.com to read that story. No decision has been made on reviewing the decision on removing most all of the Garbage cans in Yonkers back in 2018. The reason for the removal was that residens and businesses were abusing the city trash cans by putting loads of their own waste in them.
However, some resident comments point out that as the City grows in population from new development, perhaps returing the public trash cans could be reviewed.
Garbage Update:
