A Puppy, a Turtle & a Snake

There were no trains going to Manhattan when I arrived at the subway station. I had to take a train in the opposite direction and transfer to a Manhattan bound train at a different station. When I got to the Music Under New York busking spot at Union Square, Cathy Grier was playing electric guitar…

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You’re Gonna Cut Somebody With That?

At the Music Under New York busking spot at 59th street, Tantz from Brazil was sitting on the bench, playing acoustic classical guitar. When I showed up with the MUNY permit he said he would go play on the platform downstairs. As I was setting up to play a guy looked in the garbage can…

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Thats My Song

Two Chinese people were playing the erhu and what looks like a Chinese version of a banjo on the platform when I arrived at the Union Square subway station. At the Music Under New York busking spot a thin guy was playing electric guitar with an effects pedal. He was playing an endless melody while…

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Saw Lady for President

When I arrived at the Music Under New York (MUNY) spot at the Times Square subway station Moses was freelancing there. His wife suffers from some form of dementia and he is taking care of her. He told me that he finally got a care-taker to come, so he can be free to leave the…

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The Legal Size of Carving Knives

When I got to the Music Under New York spot by the Mosaics at the Times Square subway station there was nobody there. The whole space was kind of empty – no people, which is a bit unusual. The only person around was a homeless guy. “What is it?” he asked Saw Lady: “It’s a…

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Organic Playing

As I got to the Whitehall ferry terminal a guard with a black dog asked if he can check my busking cart. “This is the 1st time I’m asked to have my stuff checked in NYC” I told him. I handed him my back-pack and he said “just put it on the floor”. Turns out,…

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A Different Bag Every Day

On my way up the subway station’s stairs two guys offered to help me bring my busking gear up. It turned out that they were the two guys I saw at the 14th street subway station last Friday – Guillermo and Martin, who were the ones sitting on a bench and fixing a string on…

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Black Friday at the Union Square Subway Station

When I got to the Music Under New York busking spot at the Union Square subway station today I met the duo Mikanic there. They were just packing up their busking gear. Originally from South Africa Mike and Nick were accepted into MUNY three years ago, but have spent the past year in South Africa…

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Thanksgiving Day at the Times Square Subway Station

When I got to the Music Under New York spot at the Times Square subway station at 11:30 this morning, there were two police officers standing right at the spot, one of them with a police dog. There was yellow police tape and police barriers blocking the way to the escalators. As I showed the…

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Everybody is Out, Playing

As I got to the Music Under New York busking spot at Union Square there was a guy sleeping on the right hand side bench. He had a guitar lying next to him. On the left bench there was a lady with very swollen legs, also sleeping. At 12:15 the Chinese erhu player started playing…

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