a wall of a subway corridor full of sticky notes of passengers with inspiring comments, thoughts and positive ideas is the response of many New Yorkers to the fear and anxiety that the Republican’s victory has caused them Donald Trumpp in the presidential elections.
“Be nicer”, “Are you going to deport me?”, “Dump Trump” or “We have a criminal as our new president” are some of the messages that can be read on the brightly colored post-its after Tuesday’s elections.
Resuming the initiative he created after Trump’s first victory in 2016 and which he has replicated ever since, Matt Chavez invites riders at a busy Manhattan station to take time to write a note and paste it along with others on the wall of a long corridor.
“This project started in early 2016, it was called ‘Subway Therapy’,” But there were no post-its, just random chatter, said Chavez, 36, as passersby stopped to read the writings or scribbled their own messages on small folding tables.
Through the elections, Chávez resurrected this project that he has carried throughout the United States and to places as far away as Brussels and Sweden’s Malmö.
Photo: AFP
With 30% of the vote, Trump gained ground in New York City, which has traditionally been a Democratic stronghold. The vice president Kamala Harris he obtained 68%, 16 percentage points less than the vote that President Joe Biden obtained there in 2020.
Among those who stopped to read or write were tourists, businessmen and parents with their children.
Esra Yalcin, a graphic designer of Turkish origin, stopped with her daughter and photographed her with an instant camera after putting her note on the white tiles.
Your daughter’s message?: “Don’t lose hope.”
