A banner of Bill de Blasio by a pro-Trump artist was unveiled Tuesday over the Staten Island Expressway showing the New York City mayor in all his socialist glory.
The display features de Blasio in a Che Guevara T-shirt, gripping the head of Lady Liberty in his hand.
NYC banner shows de Blasio holding Lady Liberty's severed head https://t.co/kuuKImd74A pic.twitter.com/DZtZOkpp3N
— New York Post (@nypost) July 22, 2020
The artist behind the work is Scott LoBaido, a 55-year-old Staten Islander with a focus on work that captures the American spirit.
“It’s what he’s doing to New York, he’s severing the head of the greatest city on Earth,” LoBaido told the New York Post.
The artist said he was encouraged to create the banner after de Blasio's poor response to the unrest in the city, as a result of the Black Lives Matter protests.
So LoBaido expressed his frustration in the mayor's behavior and hung his work over the expressway’s west-bound ramp Exit 13B during afternoon rush hour.
His goal was to “fire up the masses” about De Blasio’s failed leadership, and he said a lot of cars honked their horns “like crazy” as the banner was unveiled, according to the Post.
“New York has turned into a sh–hole because of this guy,” LoBaido said in regards to the mayor. “He hates the true New Yorkers: police officers, firefighters… people who built this city.”
On Monday LoBaido also painted a blue line of the NYPD in front of the 122nd Precinct in New Dorp, but it was vandalized with “Black Lives Matter” graffiti shortly after he completed the project.
In May, LoBaido partnered with the Tunnel to Towers Foundation to create "Sunrise: A Tribute to First Responders," a painting depicting the hard work of the unsung heroes of the pandemic firefighters, police officers, military members, health care workers, and EMTs. His other work includes a vast array of patriotic murals, paintings, and apparel.
While police requested LoBaido take the artwork down about an hour and a half after it went up, the patriotic artist said he has plans for future controversial works throughout the city.