Jersey City Monopoly board small 6-30-16.jpg

A portion of the Jersey City Monopoly board on Newark Avenue was painted over on June 30, 2016, a day after a group of residents claimed the original image was racist. Alyssa Ki | For The Jersey Journal

(Alyssa Ki)

JERSEY CITY -- A portion of the Newark Avenue Monopoly board that critics yesterday called racist has been painted over by the city.

The square, which originally depicted a character behind bars, is now a block of orange paint. A group of residents, including state Assemblywoman Angela McKnight, said the original image reinforced negative stereotypes of people of color and demanded it be changed.

The artist, Mr. Abillity, a.k.a. Gary Wynans, told The Jersey Journal yesterday that the image was a self-portrait (he is of Puerto Rican and Italian descent) and said critics were projecting their own racial biases on the image, part of a 33-foot Jersey City-centric Monopoly board painted on the Newark Avenue pedestrian plaza.

Reached by phone this afternoon, Wynans said he isn't happy about the change and did not do it himself.

"I am indeed disappointed," he said.

City spokeswoman Jennifer Morril said Mayor Steve Fulop made the call to alter the Monopoly board.

"The mural program should be uplifting and a positive for the city, so being that this became a distraction from the goal of the program we decided to take it out," Morrill said.

Pamela Johnson, leader of the Jersey City Anti-Violence Coalition Movement, joined McKnight in criticizing the depiction of the prisoner. Today, Johnson applauded the city for painting over the offending square, which she said "by no means depicted the most diverse city in the country."

"It doesn't have to be an image of a young person of color," she said. "We don't need anything that continues to stereotype anybody, any race."

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.