D.C. mayor reopens Black Lives Matter Plaza after nine months of closing commercial street

The Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington D.C. – just a few blocks from the White House front door – was partially reopened Sunday, nine months after Mayor Muriel Bowser blockaded the commercial strip. 

Bowser's move, which also authorized the roughly three blocks of 16th Street NW to be painted with the words "Black Lives Matter," was an effort to allow for peaceful social justice gatherings. Bowser, a Democrat, closed the strip a week after George Floyd's death in Minneapolis police custody, igniting a summer of protests across the country.

The words "Black Lives Matter Plaza" are painted in big, yellow letters on the street.

One lane of traffic in either direction is now open to cars. However, the center of the plaza remains designated for pedestrians and is separated from traffic with yellow pylons, according to NBC-4 TV.

The words "Black Lives Matter Plaza" are painted in big, yellow letters on the street, the TV station also reports.