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City artists promote safe sex with free NYC condoms

Safe sex never looked more artistic.

The city launched its ARTCondomNYC campaign Wednesday, which features artist-designed wrappers for city-provided condoms. David John Attyah, an artist and community advocate who designed the first ARTCondomNYC wrapper, said the condoms help spread a creative message to couples across the city.

“Our goal is to supplement the already powerful activities of the public health community by introducing an unexpected artistic element to jump-start condom use, reinvigorate conversations about our sexuality, and fortify our common sense of purpose and potential in getting creative and playing safe,” he said in a statement.

The remaining three designs will be released throughout the year and in early 2019. The ARTCondomNYC campaign is part of the mayor’s “Ending the Epidemic” initiative to reduce HIV and sexually transmitted infections in the city.

The city began distributing its own free branded condoms in 2007 and last year over 30 million condoms were given out, according to the city’s Health Department.