Mr. Yellow Sweatshirt

Dirs. Pacho Velez and Yoni Brook. 2017, 9 mins. Digital video. Shot in the Roosevelt Ave/Jackson Heights station, Mr. Yellow Sweatshirt captures the tide of New Yorkers streaming through an entrance to the subway system in what the filmmakers refer to as a “collective ballet.” One frustrated, aspiring rider, struggling with his MetroCard, pierces the anonymity of the setting, suggesting the potential for human connection in even the densest, most transitory urban space. The film was released in 2017, the 25th anniversary of the introduction of the MetroCard. Now, with “touchless” scanning options in place in many subway stations, and plans for the MetroCard to be phased out over the next few years, the film evokes a grudging nostalgia in a city where change is constant.