In a press conference Monday, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said he allowed Black Lives Matter street murals to be painted without applying through the Dept. of Transportation because the BLM message “transcends all normal realities.”
Responding to a question on whether he submitted a DOT application before painting the BLM murals, De Blasio said, “Look, the fact is that what I decided to do with the Black Lives Matter murals, and this came out of a meeting… with community leaders and activists who said this would be such an important thing for this city to declare, officially, that is something that, again, transcends all normal realities. Because we are in a moment in history where this had to be said and done. That’s a decision I made. But the normal process continues for anyone who wants to apply.”
As for other groups that want to paint street murals, he added, “We haven’t said no to people. We have said, if you want to apply, you can apply, but there’s a process.”
So when a Democrat leader feels that a political message “transcends all normal realities,” the normal rules don’t have to apply.