Give Me Beer and Nobody Will Get Hurt

At the Music Under New York busking spot at the Union Square subway station kora player Salieu Suso was playing. He spotted me as I came out of the elevator and yelled: “Saw Lady! How are you?”
Salieu got his official Music Under NY cloth banner (newbie buskers get a small plastic banner for their 1st year). He told me that the first time he used his new banner, it was at Grand Central Station. When he was done busking he forgot his banner on the wall… Luckily the Gimagua twins (guitar players) played at that spot later that day. They took his banner and gave it back to him.
During the month of Ramadan Salieu was fasting. He always gives me a hug when he sees me, but during Ramadan he can’t do that, he said.

Veronica, a film student, wanted to film me for a class project. She set up a big camera on a tripod. Two minutes later two cops told her she can’t film in the subway. The cops were nice and didn’t give her a ticket.

The blind blond lady greeted me hello, as did Albert the messenger who was doing a delivery. He loves his new job, he said. It keeps him busy. I noticed he is much busier with this new messengering job than he was with his previous one.

Photographer: © Aaron Porter

On the platform a guy wearing a t-shirt saying “Give me beer and nobody will get hurt” told me he saw me on TV. He is a carpenter and he also does air-brush paintings on t-shirts. He used to sell his t-shirts on the street but now the police is hard on street artists, he said. They require the merchandise to be displayed on a table and one needs a permit. At Union Square they totally shoved artists away, now that they are building a restaurant there.