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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Hypnotizing Victims

While waiting for the train on my way to my busking spot of the day, a lady told me she saw me at Times Square. “I heard this strange sound and I said to myself – this sounds like a musical saw”, she said. I told her Times Square is where I am heading to…

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Buskers Overflow

On my way to busking at Times Square, through the open doors of the train at 59th street I could see and hear the older Chinese guy playing a hammer dulcimer. Luke Ryan, the singer-songwriter who plays guitar, was at the Music Under New York spot by the big mosaics. Juan Castillo passed by, carrying…

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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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Norwegian Christmas Drink

On Halloween, while busking at the Times Square subway station dressed as a witch, I was approached by an unusual man. For more details of what happened back then: see the Halloween post. Out of the blue, a Norwegian angel by the name of Tore e-mail to let me know there is a video of…

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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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