New Yorkers Send Postcards to Presidential Candidates

New Yorkers came out to Bryant Park, Wednesday, to send postcards to the 2016 U.S. presidential candidates.  The "I Wish to Say" project encouraged park-goers to dictate their messages to volunteers who recorded them using vintage typewriters.

Sheryl Oring, an art professor at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, started collecting letters for her traveling exhibition during the 2004 elections.  She said it provides a platform for people to express their views and concerns.

For the first time this year, the postcards will be mailed to the candidates.  "I do hope some of the candidates might actually pay attention to all these hand-typed letter arriving in their inboxes," she said.  "It's a very different form of communication, so I'm just hoping they'll listen." 

Connor Lennon is a 16-year-old student from Long Island.  Although he can't vote, Connor said he wrote his letter to the Republican Candidates because he's angry that they oppose gay marriage.  "I'm a young transgender, gay student, and this is going to affect me for the rest of my life," he said.

Some of the postcards were shared in public readings held throughout the afternoon.  Oring said she hoped to have 500 letters written by the end of the day.

The exhibition is a part of the PEN World Voices Festival, a week-long literary festival in New York City that brings together artists and public intellectuals from around the globe.  Events will take place throughout the city from April 25th to May 1st.