Brooklyn, New York

Blue construction barriers are almost as common as pigeons in New York City. Many of them are blank or plastered with ads. As the restaurant Shake Shack built a new storefront in the heart of downtown Brooklyn, their generous team turned their barriers into a constructive place for the community—and one of the longest Before I Die walls ever. Theresa Mullen, who spearheaded the installation, shared stories of how thew wall unfolded over its three-month life. “Hardly anyone writes anymore, so it was especially poignant to see all this sharing with the written word,” she said. “I watched a woman stand for a long time, reading, smiling, thinking. She finally wrote ‘Find God’ in small words and started crying. All of this sharing amongst total strangers in such a heavily trafficked location was breathtaking.”