"When he was making those hearts, he was making New York into a storybook that we might all want to live in. To him, New York seemed to be losing its soul, and he was trying to put back its soul, and in the end I think it wore him out."

Said Lily Koppel, a close friend of Hash Halper, quoted in "Hash Halper, Street Artist Who Adorned New York With Hearts, Dies at 41/He was something of a downtown folk hero, bringing positivity to a harsh city with his humble shards of chalk. But he harbored his own struggles" (NYT).

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A post shared by Hash Halper RIP 1980-2021 🤍 (@newyorkromantic)