Chloë Bass has transformed New York City's transit system into an unlikely venue for emotional healing. Her public art commission "If you hear something, free something" replaces the familiar drone of service announcements with 24 poetic messages designed to foster care and connection among strangers. Running through October 5th, the project is reaching hundreds of thousands of daily riders across key subway stations, delivering multilingual soundscapes that challenge the typical purpose of public address systems.

The initiative emerged from extensive focus groups with transit riders and MTA workers, exploring which sounds could bring people to "a place of ease" rather than heightened vigilance. Bass deliberately plays with the post-9/11 messaging of "If You See Something, Say Something," asking instead how public spaces can establish emotional ease rather than amplifying fear. Each announcement begins with a custom tone and ends with a chorus prompting the project's central message, creating moments of surprise and reflection in spaces typically associated with efficiency and transit.

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Bass’s project subtly reframes public transit as not solely as a site of surveillance and efficiency, but one of empathy and shared humanity, too. In a broader sense, it's an attempt at a new form of civic communication. As polarization and distrust continue to gain ground, small interruptions of beauty and kindness in unexpected spaces can create micro-moments of reflection. That's a cue for brands and organizations everywhere: audiences don’t only want utility, they want surprise, connection and emotional depth woven into the everyday.