‘Danny Boy’ banned by police

Above the Music Under New York spot at the Union Square subway station there is an artists market. Painters, photographers, sculptors, etc. set up in the park showcasing their art work.

While playing I often see them on their way to their spot upstairs. I’ve gotten to know some of them over the years. One such artist is paiter/photographer/poet Patrick Christiano.

I first encountered Pat in 2000. He placed one of his poems in my donations box and it really moved me.
What a wonderful gesture on his part! I really love it when people put things other than money in my box. Money is nice, but I spend it and then it’s gone. But Pat’s poem (as well as other gifts people have placed in my donations box) – that I will keep for ever.
(I blogged about it at the time).
All his poems are beautifully presented on gold and orange paper.

Pat walked by today and put 2 more of his poems in my donations box. He also told me he just had a big show at an art gallery in Germany in a castle at a town called Halle (sic.).

Brooklyn Bridge (photo transfer)/Patrick Christiano
Pat’s website

This is why I love playing at the Union Square subway station – it’s such a great place to meet and interact with artists of different disciplines. Kind of reminds me a little bit of when I played at Montmartre in Paris (famous artists area).

Playing at Montmartre, Paris, France

The blind lady who always passes by greeted me cheerfully, as she has been doing for years, and a very excited girl came to tell me that she saw me on the Internet.
A guy wearing a Goth coat said ‘I like your pants’ (they were Goth) as he passed by. I said to him ‘I like your coat’. I think Goth wear is slowly becoming mainstreem fasion these days. The strange thing is how difficult it is to find Goth cloths in NYC. You would think that in NYC of all places, it should be easy to find anything. Well, in the entire city there is only ONE Goth store…

At about 1pm 3 policemen came to me. One of them, a sergent, asked for my permit. He then told me I’m not allowd to sell CDs. I complied and put them away. He then said “and don’t play ‘Danny Boy’“. He wasn’t joking – that was an order. I made sure not to play ‘Danny Boy’ for the rest of the day…
The 3 a-capella singing brothers walked by on their way home. They were done singing on the trains for today. I told them what happened with the police. They told me I could put the CDs back out now that the officers were gone, but I didn’t dare.

Saw joke of the day:
A guy said as he walked by: “I SAW you else where”.