Art installation addressing police brutality finds new life in Brooklyn

An art installation created in 1999 is making a comeback in downtown Brooklyn this month.
Artist Bradley McCallum is using six emergency call boxes that used to be seen on city street corners to bring attention to the issue of police brutality.
“The idea of taking a piece of street furniture that was designed to be able to call the police or call the fire department in case of an emergency – and then be able to invert that so that it actually provides a place to listen to those who have been impacted by police violence,” he told News 12.
Each box will tell stories of victims of police brutality through a sequence of audio testimonies by survivors, family members, lawyers and even police officers.
McCallum originally created the public art project back in 1999 in response to the high-profile brutality cases of Abner Louima and Amadou Diallo.
After the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, he dusted off the call boxes and revamped the installation -- with a grant from the Downtown Brooklyn + Dumbo Art Fund.
The art installation will be at The Plaza at 300 Ashland until January.