NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- President Donald Trump has "no clue what's going on in New York City," Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday — a day after the president claimed NYPD officers were "furious" about the city's plans to paint a "Black Lives Matter" mural in front of Trump Tower.
During an interview with WNYC's Brian Lehrer Friday morning, de Blasio dismissed Trump's tweet about the planned mural on Fifth Avenue.
"First of all, the president has no clue what's going on in New York City. All he does, everyone knows it, his only trick... he divides," the mayor said. "When he doesn't know what's going on, he tries to divide."
"In fact, the police force in New York City today is majority people of color. Many, many African American members of the NYPD, including some of our leading, top officials in the NYPD... believe that Black lives matter," he added. "There are many, many officers who stand in solidarity of that notion, of all backgrounds."
The Fifth Avenue mural will be one part of the city's efforts to acknowledge "the truth of American history, the original sin of American history, slavery, and the oppression of Black people and showing that we won't accept it in this day and age," de Blasio said.
"Look, here's the bottom line. Fifth Avenue, you know, all the greatness of New York City, everything we celebrate, that was built largely with the labor of African American men and women over centuries, and often labor that was not compensated the way it should have been, including labor that was enslaved, if you go back far enough. A lot of this city (was) built with slave labor," he said.
"And we've got to show the president and the world that Black lives matter," he added. "And by putting it right at his doorstep, we're going to draw the attention of the world to it."
New York City's new Commission on Racial Justice and Reconciliation will work on other efforts aimed at addressing "structural and institutional racism" in the city, he noted.
Separate from its plans for the mural in front of Trump Tower, the city will be painting "Black Lives Matter" murals on one street in each of the five boroughs, as previously announced by de Blasio.
Asked by Lehrer whether the murals were indicative of de Blasio's belief in the existence of "systemic bias in the NYPD," the mayor maintained there was "systemic bias in every part of New York City."
"And we're going to look at every city agency, and we're going to look at every city institution, and we have to address it," he said.
