Coronavirus News: Designer's 'flower flash' brighten up Manhattan streets

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Saturday, April 18, 2020

Designer's 'flower flash' brighten up NYC streets

Lewis Miller's most recent creation is an arrangement popping out of a trash can at the corner of W. 58th St. and 10th Ave.

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- A designer is creating floral installations on the streets of Manhattan that are meant to brighten the days of healthcare and other essential workers.

Lewis Miller's most recent creation is an arrangement popping out of a trash can at the corner of W. 58th St. and 10th Ave.

"They were very simple. It was just cherry branches. It was just lilac," Miller said. "We didn't disclose the location so nobody could necessarily go find them."

But plenty of people did find them and then they found his Instagram profile.

A post with pictures of the 'flower flash' as Miller calls them has gotten more than 16,000 likes in less than a day.

"Listen, I'm kind of bored. I'm a creative person, do something new and yeah, it took off," Miller said. "It still surprises me reading the comments from yesterday like really how much it feeds people's souls."

Miller has been dotting Manhattan with floral surprises for a few years with his arrangements sprouting out of those iconic New York City hot dog carts and even construction equipment.

"And the combination of which is so hard aggressive and masculine, versus flowers which are the exact opposite of that," Miller said.

Vogue magazine once wrote about him but it's the reaction from the public many of whom have been cramped inside for weeks he values most.

"If you can just stop, pause and just have one second of joy -- that's amazing because that's one of the things that's so lacking and it's hard," Miller said.

As one person on Instagram put it, New York City trash has never looked so pretty.