Brandon Stanton, the photographer behind the tremendously popular photo series Humans of New York, has spent most of his savings from the last 15 years on his latest project: a monumental installation at Grand Central Terminal. Stanton’s public photo installation Dear New York, now on view, replaces all of the advertisements in the major Manhattan train station until October 19 — for the first time in Grand Central’s history, according to the artist. Stanton has taken over 10,000 photographs of New Yorkers since the summer of 2010, when he embarked on what he describes on his website as a “photography census” of the city’s residents. Now, a selection of his portraits is displayed throughout the train station’s grand concourse, extending three levels into the subway stops for the S, 7, 4, 5, and 6 trains. He also asked 600 public school students to exhibit images of individuals they wanted to honor, and 11 local photographers were invited to participate in an exhibition held in the station’s Vanderbilt Hall. Dear New York in Grand Central StationThe public photo installation replaces all of the advertisements in the station temporarily.Intensely kind in disposition, Stanton can easily be pictured approaching strangers to take their photographs and welcoming their searing stories, excerpts of which line the station’s walls. On Wednesday, October 8, Stanton walked through the bowels of Grand Central, threading past hurried commuters and maintenance workers, placing the final custom vinyl photographs on the tiled walls. He stopped to smooth out a rumpled section of vinyl as he walked. The quote inscribed read, “I want to start talking to my family again.”Stanton first shared photos and excerpts from interviews with random New Yorkers on Facebook. His project has since evolved into an Instagram account with 12.8 million followers and four New York Times bestselling books. He claims to have raised $10 million for New York charities through his platform. A passerby walks past turnstiles featuring portraits.Stanton takes a photo.One vinyl panel reads, “I am drawing the man who raped me.” Another portrays a man lying on the floor unattended in a subway station. The knowing faces of Stanton’s portraits are everywhere: beneath turnstiles, on columns, pathways, bright screens at Amtrak boarding zones, and projected onto the walls of one of the most iconic New York sites, Grand Central’s main concourse. Stanton used the word “democratize” to describe his desire for the New York public to engage with and participate in the project, which also features live pianists from Juilliard; he said he wants to find a way for community members to use the piano as well. “The art is going to change and evolve as people come and they interact with it,” Stanton said.The installation is on view until October 19. The project extends into the subway stops for the S, 7, 4, 5, and 6 trains.In Vanderbilt Hall, passersby, including local fashion designer Mary Jaeger, stopped to view works by students and local photographers. “I rarely come to Grand Central, but I’m really happy to see it,” Jaeger told Hyperallergic. “That’s what makes New York so exciting … because no matter where you go, you see these amazing exhibitions, and there’s just art and performance everywhere.”Sabrina Santiago, one of the local street photographers featured in the Dear New York exhibition, has 10 works on display. In a phone interview, she said her photos depict “women on the streets, how they present themselves in public, and how their body language and sense of style are a reflection of their identity.” Santiago had answered a call for street photographers who documented their own communities. “It’s been really special to see how the other photographers took that prompt and ran with it,” Santiago said. “A lot of us are outside and trying to get a sense of the essence of New York City.”Excerpts of people’s stories line the station’s walls.Stanton’s composite public art project, he said, required convincing several institutions and individuals. To cast his images onto the concourse walls, for instance, Stanton said he asked Palladino’s owner to use his balcony to install his projectors.“If he had said no, everything would have fallen apart,” Stanton said. “And so I had nightmares of this man saying no for weeks and months, and when I finally met him, he was the coolest guy in the world.”Stanton declined to disclose the cost of the project, beyond noting that it represented the majority of his savings since 2010. He said he initially sought to donate the proceeds from sales of his new book, Dear New York (2025), to fund a creative project for the public benefit. The cost was significantly higher than his earnings, and he said he had to draw on his personal funds.His book is an “attempt to take everything I’ve learned about photography, storytelling, people in New York City over the past 15 years and make the most crafted, polished tribute to New York City I possibly could,” Stanton told Hyperallergic. The Grand Central project, he said, is an extension of that attempt. Passersby viewed exhibits by public school studentsA non-human of New York.Stanton hopes the New York public will engage with and participate in the project.A quote on a vinyl panelA person whizzes by the photo panels.One photo depicts a man laying unattended on the subway platform.The main hall at Grand Central StationA policeman standing near the photo installationsThe Dear New York presentation