NYC’s Shelter Population Speaks Out in Public Art Project
Alex Strada’s “Public Address” brings handwritten testimonies from over 400 unhoused New Yorkers and shelter staff to a dozen locations across the Bronx.
Alex Strada’s Public Address opened in the Bronx on Monday, September 14, bringing handwritten testimonies from over 400 unhoused New Yorkers and shelter staff to a dozen locations across the borough.
Using log entries from workshops held across New York City shelters, Strada, the inaugural artist-in-residence for the New York Department of Homeless Services (DHS), translated these messages onto aluminum signs from the Department of Transportation. Visible on street corners, parks, and other high-traffic areas frequented by unhoused people, the long-term installation debuted in Manhattan in October 2025 and will have appeared in all five boroughs by March 2027.
"My hope for this project is that it functions as a jumping off point to work towards more just realities that are not mired in stereotype or misperception, or in the acceptance of homelessness as an unavoidable byproduct of New York City life,” Strada told Hyperallergic.
The project includes depictions of an Ecuadorian mother fleeing to New York with her two daughters, an assemblage of multicolored hearts, and intimate letters detailing experiences with homelessness. Bikes, houses, and faraway stretches of land convey privileges often taken for granted, and letters touch on lesser-known aspects of homelessness: the impossible prospect of finding housing as an undocumented immigrant, balancing high school without shelter, and the unforeseen circumstances that bring about eviction at a moment's notice.
