Proposed mural at Brooklyn subway station seeks to honor Aretha Franklin
Early Thursday morning last week, hours after the news of Aretha Franklin’s death broke, commuters boarding the train at the Franklin Avenue subway station in Brooklyn noticed a change.
On almost every sign that said “Franklin,” the word “Aretha” had been stenciled onto the wall directly above, in hot pink chalk paint. This was the work of LeRoy McCarthy, a 50-year-old location manager and music enthusiast who was moved to pay tribute to the Queen of Soul.
McCarthy enlisted the help of a street artist friend and the two set to work around Brooklyn, adding the singer’s name to every sign they could find. The next day, MTA workers removed the lettering, but the volume of attention the art garnered on social media channels was enough for McCarthy. “It lasted long enough to make an impression,” he told Curbed.
Brooklyn Boro
View MoreNew York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.