Love is in the mail.
Ahead of Valentine’s Day, New Yorkers were invited to share their softer side in anonymous love letters and drop them in any of over a dozen, cherry-red mailboxes scattered across the Big Apple — as part of a new, Cupid-approved campaign by a local florist.
“I’m blown away by the letters I’ve read so far – I can’t get over it. There are people who wrote poems, ones who wrote to a past love, to a missed connection, love letters to New York City, cute cards from kids,” said flower designer Kelsie Hayes, the owner of Popup Florist and mastermind of the “Love Letters of New York City” campaign.
On Friday, The Post visited Hayes’ Chelsea studio for a sneak peek at some of the more than 500 letters dropped into 13 mailboxes in Brooklyn and Manhattan from Jan. 23-30.
“Dear Lover, you inspire me every day, even when your gone. I think about your footsteps running towards mine, your arms holding me tight and keeping me safe … even though your gone I know your always my lover [sic],” reads a heart-wrenching note in scribbled handwriting.
“Lovelet, your tender ripples of emotions is a landscape I wish to muse one, over & over. Any riptides will simply draw me back to you … may fortune be in our hearts, at every corner. XO, Fatimah,” another letter says.
In one particular letter that had an impact on Hayes, the writer discussed the importance of simple pleasures, she said.
“That one really hit me, because it’s hard to remember to be in love with the simple pleasures of life, and that you really shouldn’t take them for granted,” she explained.
Now, the florist faces the “difficult” task of selecting just 30 to be featured in a love-themed installation at a SoHo art gallery – where she will design large-scale floral arrangements to match the moods and messages conveyed in the letters.
“We’re narrowing them down based on ones that evoke the most emotion, but we want to capture the full spectrum of what it means to love and be loved – relationships, motherly love,” and more, she said.
The exhibition – which requires free registration to attend – will only be available on Feb. 8, because “flowers are fleeting,” Hayes added.
Nevertheless, the initial part of the campaign made its intended impact, according to Hayes.
“I think the fact that so many people took the time to write a letter speaks volumes to how much people want happiness right now, and how much they love love,” she said. “The response has really blown me away.”
“I think this [campaign] is so special and necessary – celebrating the small joys is really important, and sometimes a simple love letter is just the thing to brighten someone’s day,” said playwright and West Villager Electra Carzis, 26, who penned a note to her boyfriend, Luca, before dropping it into a mailbox in Greenwich Village this week.
