Happy HEavenly Birthday Eric Garner
A 1-800 Happy Birthday Public Art Installation Honoring Eric Garner
Created by Artist Mohammad Gorjestani
Curated by Benjamin “BJ” McBride
Presented by WORTHLESSSTUDIOS, Even/Odd, and Campaign Zero
In partnership with The Eric Initiative Foundation
Happy Heavenly Birthday Eric Garner, September 12, 1-5pm
On view September 3 - December 1, 2026 at Tompkinsville Park, Staten Island, NY
On September 12, 2026, 1-800 Happy Birthday will honored Eric Garner. To commemorate his life, 1-800 Happy Birthday is installed a temporary public art sculpture at Tompkinsville Park in Staten Island from September through December, 2026, creating space for celebration and community healing.
In collaboration with his mother Gwen Carr, Eric Garner’s family and E.R.I.C. Initiative Foundation, 1-800 Happy Birthday hosted a birthday celebration on September 12th at Tompkinsville Park, days before his 56th heavenly birthday on September 15. The event featured remarks from Gwen Carr, The Eric Initiative Foundation, and 1-800 Happy Birthday Curatorial Fellow Benjamin “BJ” McBride, as well as music by DJs Kitty Cas$h and Venus X, food from JahAmerican Jerk Smoker and Nice Ice Baby by Ashekia along with celebration. Visitors also listened to voicemails at the 1-800 Happy Birthday phone booth, wrote birthday cards for Eric Garner, played dominos provided by Capicu! NYC, made seed-balls with Friends of Mahoney Playground, and spent time in the Staten Island Urban Center.
The 1-800 Happy Birthday installation consisted of one upcycled New York City phone booth, programmed to allow visitors to listen to birthday voicemails left for Eric Garner that the project has been collecting since it began in 2014. This interactive component allows visitors to bear witness to a profound love for human life and aims to inspire action towards justice. Physical interaction with the phone booth guides visitors through a tangible experience of a complex and heartfelt portrait of a life.
The installation is free and open to the public, viewable 24 hours a day.
1-800 Happy Birthday is a multi-format project and living memorial that celebrates the heavenly birthdays of the Black and Brown lives killed by police violence, created by filmmaker and artist Mohammad Gorjestani in deep collaboration with their families. The project is produced by creative studio Even/Odd and the NYC arts non-profit WORTHLESSSTUDIOS in partnership with the social justice non-profit Campaign Zero
Donate to THE FAMILY FUND
All donations are processed through WORTHLESSSTUDIOS, a New York–based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and are periodically distributed to the participating families.
Your contribution supports the families of Dujuan Armstrong, Sandra Bland, Michael Brown, Philando Castile, Stephon Clark, Fred Cox, George Floyd, Derrick Gaines, Eric Garner, Oscar Grant, Xzavier Hill, Donovon Lynch, Sean Monterrosa, Tony Robinson, and Mario Woods, honoring their lives and providing direct support to their loved ones.
