Weren’t you here two hours ago?

Busking at the Staten Island ferry terminals is always an anticipated opportunity, because it doesn’t happen very often. A guy told me that the last time he heard a musical saw being played was 50 years ago, in Panama, when he was 12 years old: his godfather played the musical saw in a band. The…

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This is New York

A man sitting on the stairs leading to the subway station was smoking a cigarette. He offered to help me bring my busking gear up the stairs “as long as it’s not a baby”, he said. At the top of the first flight of stairs he fell to the floor. He immediately got up. “Are…

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Walked Away Singing

While I was busking at the Whitehall ferry terminal, I had a few nice conversations with people waiting to take the ferry boat to Staten Island: A guy told me that his Dad taught him to make sounds with a saw by hitting it with the thumb. Another guy told me that he plays the…

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The Smell of Baked Goods

As I was transferring trains at Union Square I saw Dan Stevens playing guitar and singing at the Music Under New York busking spot. A woman was dancing with a little kid to the sound of the music. My busking spot for the day was at the Whitehall Ferry Terminal in lower Manhattan. An older…

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How Strong is Plastic?

There were no trains going to Manhattan today… they were working on the tracks. So, I took a train going the opposite way and switched to a Manhattan bound one a few stops away. It took me about an hour and a half to get to the Music Under New York busking spot at the…

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