Have a Heart

Typically the preserve of TikTok dance troupes, Duffy Square, an islet of Times Square recognizable for its red bleacherlike seating, is temporarily home to a Valentines’ Day–themed artificial garden. The heartfelt—and shaped—gesture, said Anthony Gagliardi of Almost Studio, “is meant to be a jolt from our routines.” Open through the end of the month, Loves h|Edge takes its place alongside the fourteen previous winners of the Times Square Art’s annual Love & Design Competition. Gagliardi and his partner Dorian Booth were classmates of mine in architecture school, so I wanted to show my support in person, as did their former landscape instructor Bryan Fuermann, who was pleased as punch to see so many garden design tropes at play in such an improbable setting. After the team (see all their names here) had spent frantic hours applying zip ties over the weekend, the mood felt downright romantic: the season’s first (and possibly last) snow had even left a light dusting on the artificial box hedge.