Aretha Franklin Subway Tributes

Following the example of grassroots memorials to Aretha Franklin, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) installed stickers with the single word “Respect” in its Franklin Street and Franklin Avenue subway stations. The stickers, graphically similar to certain MTA signs, reference the renowned singer’s 1968 Grammy Award-winning recording.

Spontaneous tributes appeared on Wednesday, August 15, 2018, when the public learned that the performer was quite ill. For example, people wrote “Aretha” above “Franklin” in the Franklin Street station. Someone pasted decals to a staircase that read, “Aretha makes me feel like a natural woman,” paraphrasing another of her hits from the same year.

Franklin passed from this life on August 16, 2018. Following her death, graffiti appeared in the Franklin Avenue station as well. The MTA initially removed the impromptu tributes in both stations, consistent with its policies regarding graffiti and unauthorized signs, resulting in public outcry.

On September 1, 2018, the same day as a televised memorial service for the “Queen of Soul,” the MTA applied the “Respect” stickers in the Franklin Street and Franklin Avenue stations. Although announced as temporary, the stickers remain in place and in generally good condition years later.