D.C. Council votes to permanently keep name 'Black Lives Matter Plaza'

by Sam Ford

Mon, October 19th 2020, 11:37 PM UTC

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 05: People walk down 16th street after volunteers, with permission from the city, painted "Black Lives Matter" on the street near the White House on June 05, 2020 in Washington, DC. After seven days of protests in DC over the death of George Floyd, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has renamed that section of 16th street "Black Lives Matter Plaza". (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 27: A hearse with the flag-draped casket of Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) drives on 16th Street, renamed, Black Lives Matter Plaza, near the White House on July 27, 2020, in Washington, DC. Lewis, a civil rights icon and fierce advocate of voting rights for African Americans, will lie in state at the Capitol. Lewis died on July 17 at the age of 80. (Photo by Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images)

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WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 05: People walk down 16th street after volunteers, with permission from the city, painted "Black Lives Matter" on the street near the White House on June 05, 2020 in Washington, DC. After seven days of protests in DC over the death of George Floyd, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has renamed that section of 16th street "Black Lives Matter Plaza". (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (ABC7) — The D.C. Council voted unanimously Tuesday to permanently rename the section of 16th St NW between H and K, Black Lives Matter Plaza.

Emergency legislation was voted on by the council to do that after D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the name change suddenly on June 5, in the wake of George Floyd's death and the protests that followed. But that legislation was only for a temporary renaming.

Much of the area, which suffered vandalism and looting four months ago, is still closed to traffic, and buildings are still boarded up.

Restaurants on 16th and cross streets are slowly reopening.

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Asked about the street, Isabella Mansilla, marketing manager for nearby BlackFinn Restaurant said, "I would like to see it reopened just because I feel like it would drive more traffic, but I think it is such an important part of the movement going on right now. So I understand why it's blocked off."

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