The global pandemic has led to unimaginable loss to the MTA family, with 136 employees dying of CoViD-19 since the pandemic began.
To honor and pay tribute to those who have been lost too soon, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority today launched an engaging visual memorial to those employees, heroes, who dedicated their lives to moving New Yorkers through the city and region.
Built around photographs, shared by family members, the memorial was designed by MTA Arts & Design at the request of Sarah Feinberg, Interim President of MTA New York City Transit. It is entitled Travels Far after a poem by Tracy K. Smith, former U.S. Poet Laureate, that was commissioned for this project and will appear in multiple languages at stations.
The online version is accompanied by an original score of the same name by composer Christopher Thompson, which was also commissioned for the memorial. This special tribute involved many people in various disciplines including New York City Transit liaisons to the family, and in-house talent from marketing, web and digital content teams.
The memorial will appear as an eight-minute video running on 138 three-panel digital screens at 107 subway stations today, Monday, January 25, 2021, through Sunday, February 07, 2021. The video will play twice consecutively three times per day, at 10:30 a.m., 02:30 p.m. and 08:30 p.m. and is available to view on a website, featuring the memorial and portraits.
“CoViD-19 has been a devastating scourge on our entire country and, tragically, that includes the MTA’s workforce,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Patrick J. Foye. “We quickly made sure that those families who lost an MTA worker to CoViD-19 were taken care of financially, but the launch of today’s memorial is aimed at personalizing the legacies of those who died during the pandemic. It is a moving tribute to the members of our heroic workforce who lost their lives and we will continue to make sure those who perished are not forgotten.”
“The pandemic has marked an unimaginably challenging and painful time at New York City Transit,” Feinberg said. “Today marks the next step in our ongoing efforts to honor the colleagues, friends and family members who were taken from us too soon. These men and women were the heroes of the transit system – conductors, bus and train operators, cleaners – but they were also mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters. We think of them daily and we continue to mourn them with their friends and families.”
“Travels Far, with its poignant title and thoughtful words by Tracy K. Smith, helps us remember these courageous members of the MTA family in a way that pays tribute and honors them and their workplace contributions,” said Sandra Bloodworth, Director of MTA Arts & Design. “Surrounded by a spectrum of colors, the portraits in black and white allow us a glimpse into unique personalities known to their families and colleagues. This memorial shows that art can be a powerful messenger, conveying loss and honoring the memory of our colleagues.”
“Transport Workers Union Local 100 will never forget our union brothers and sisters who perished in service to the city,” said Tony Utano, President, Transport Workers Union Local 100. “It is our fervent hope that with this memorial the riding public also keeps them in their hearts and minds. Stop for a moment during your daily travels and reflect on these departed heroes, the lives lost, and the heartbreak being carried by their families and co-workers. May they rest in peace.”
Travels Far
What you gave—
brief tokens of regard,
soft words uttered
barely heard,
the smile glimpsed
from a passing car.
Through stations
and years, through
the veined chambers
of a stranger’s heart—
what you gave
travels far.
Tracy K. Smith
A full list of the stations where the memorial will appear is included below.
| Train Line | Station |
 | 103rd Street |
| 137th Street – City College |
| 145th Street |
| | 157th Street |
| 18th Steeet |
| 23rd Street |
| 50th Street |
| | 59th Street |
| 66th Street |
| 79th Street |
| 86th Street |
| | Canal Street |
| | Cathedral Parkway (110th Street) |
| Christopher Street |
| Cortlandt Street |
| Houston Street |
| Rector Street |
 | 103rd Street |
| 110th Streer |
| | 116th Street |
| | 23rd Street |
| 33rd Streer |
| 51st Streer |
| 77th Street |
| | 96th Street |
| | Astor Place |
| | Bleecker Street |
| | Canal Street |
| | Spring Streer |
 | Court House Square |
| Hunters Point |
| | Times Square |
| | Vernon Boulevard – Jackson Avenue |
  | Times Square |
| 116th Street |
| 125th Street |
| 135th Street |
| Bergen Street |
| | Borough Hall |
| | Fulton Street |
| | Wall Street |
  | Atlantic Avenue |
| Bowling Green |
| | Fulton Center |
| | Wall Street |
| 125th Street |
| 14th Street -Union Square |
| | 59th Street |
| | 86th Street |
 | Dyckman Street |
   | 59th Street – Columbus Circle |
   | W 4th Street |
| 23rd Street |
| Clinton – Washington |
| Franklin Avenue |
| Kingston – Throop |
| Lafayette Avenue |
| | Nostrand Avenue |
| Ralph Avenue |
| | 103rd Street |
| | 116th Street |
| | 135th Street |
| 81st Street – Museum of Natural History |
| | 96th Street |
| | 161st Street – Yankee Stadium |
| | Grand Street |
| | 42nd Street – Bryant Park |
| 50th Street – Rockefeller Center |
| Broadway – Lafayette Streer |
 | Avenue H |
| Avenue J |
| 155th Street |
| 50th Street |
  | Jamaica Center Parsons / Archer |
| | 5th Avenue – 53rd Street |
| Court Square – 23rd Street |
| | 21st Street – Queensbridge |
| | Bergen Street |
| | Delancey Street |
 | 4th Avenue |
| | Ft. Hamilton Parkway |
| | Smith Street – 9th Street |
| | 14th Street |
| | Broadway |
| | Classon Avenue |
| | Clinton Washington Avenuea |
| | Court Square |
| | Flushing Avenue |
| | Fulton Street |
| | Greenpoint Avenue |
| | Metropolitan Avenue |
| | Myrtle Willoughby |
| | Nassau Avenue |
| | Essex Street |
| | Flushing Avenue |
| | Hewes Street |
| | Lorimer Street |
| | Marcy Avenue |
| | Broad Street |
| | Fulton Street |
| | Kosciusko Street |
 | 14th Street – Union Square |
| | 3rd Avenue |
| | Bushwick Avenue |
| | Dekalb Avenue |
| | Graham Avenue |
| | Grand Street |
| | Halsey Street |
| | Jefferson Street |
| | Lorimer Street |
| | Montrose Avenue |
| | Morgan Avenue |
| | Central Avenue |
| | Knickerbocker Avenue |
 | 36th Street |
| | 46th Street |
| | 63rd Drive |
| | 65th Street |
| | Elmhurst Avenue |
| | Northern Boulevard |
| | Steinway Street |
| | Woodhaven Boulevard |
 | Spring Street |
| | Canal Street |
 | 14th Street – Union Square |
| | 45th Street |
| | 49th Street |
| | 5th Avenue |
| | 77th Street |
| | 9th Street |
| Canal Street |
| | City Hall |
| | Cortlandt Street |
| | Pacific Street |
| | Rector Street |
| | Union Street |
