The Pleasures of a Hostess

One of the reasons I enjoy busking in the NYC subway (or anywhere) is that I have many of the pleasures of a hostess, without the bother and expense of entertaining: to have people come & go & stop to talk with me, some of them friends, many strangers and interesting.

Photographer: © Puneesh Suri

When busking at the Whitehall Ferry Terminal two cops came over to say ‘hi’ to me. I thought they would want to see my permit, but – not at all. They just wanted to tell me that my music keeps them calm… One of them, named John, said: “You played ‘Evergreen’ before. Can you play it again sometime?” Turns out we are both Barbra Streisand fans.

A lady said to me: “I saw you on TV on channel 25 a couple of years ago. Every time I see you here I feel like a famous person is playing here”.