For the second time in eight years, a busy Manhattan subway corridor became a safe space for New Yorkers hoping to unburden themselves of Election Day angst.
Subway riders shared their stream-of-consciousness feelings on colorful sticky notes that dotted the passageway linking the 14th Street stations on Sixth and Seventh avenues — the exact spot where the public art project first surfaced in the wake of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential victory.
Matthew Chavez, the 36-year-old organizer of “Subway Therapy,” said he expects passersby to post close to 20,000 sticky notes by Saturday, with each one taken down nightly and put up again the next day per an agreement with the MTA.
“I never intended it to be a response to Trump being elected,” Chavez told THE CITY. “I just wanted people to be able to express themselves, so I brought sticky notes to the subway.”
“NY, I LOVE YOU!” and “Don’t be afraid” were among the sentiments scrawled by subway riders rattled by Trump and J.D. Vance’s defeat of Democrats Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz.
“I’m in despair and just trying to get on with my day,” said Katie Wagner, 41, a Harris/Walz supporter from Bushwick who paused to write several thoughts on a light blue sticky note. “I’m having so many feelings, I don’t even know where to start.”
Michael Rosen, 28, scribbled “They only win if we give up” on his paper, which he marked up while transferring between to the F train from the neighboring stop for the 1, 2 and 3 lines.
“I think it’s very easy to get very dejected and feel very defeated, especially when something like this happens,” said Rosen, who lives in Ridgewood. “That is what I’m trying to channel here — as difficult as that might be, you’ve got to keep moving forward.”
The earlier of “Subway Therapy” led to 12,000 of the sticky notes from 2016 being preserved at the New York Transit Museum, featured in a 2017 New York Historical Society exhibit, and showcased in the book “Signs of Hope: Messages from Subway Therapy.”
Chavez said he was not certain until recently that he would revive the sticky-note project for the 2024 election.
“I figured it would be an important thing, regardless of who the president-elect was going to be,” he said. “But yeah, it does feel a bit like a repeat of eight years ago.”
Many of the sticky notes make no direct mention of the Trump-Harris contest, instead relaying timeless messages such as “The myth of the American dream” “Should I become a man” and “I ❤ being the Q train conductor (N train says never give up).”
Even those, Chavez said, serve as therapy for New Yorkers.
“I try to make sure the work invites peaceful expression from all parties,” said Chavez, who takes down messages deemed inappropriate or vulgar. “It’s also been really fascinating to think about how divided people are right now without clear pathways to coming together in unity.”
Shaniece Taylor, 34, said that stopping to write “I am afraid for our future” proved to be temporarily healing as she was reeling from a case of the Election Day blues.
“I think it’s a beautiful way to let something out,” said Taylor who was transferring to the F line. “It’s a show of solidarity where your mind and emotions might not be the best, but at least you know you are not alone.”
Chavez, a cofounder of the nonprofit Listening Lab, said that’s the point. So he shows up with sticky notes, ballpoint pens, a small folding table and a sign that reads “Can We Have A Conversation?”
“I think there is real value in it,” he said. “People need to show up for each other.”
