A NYC subway musician and musical saw player tells what happens when she plays in the subway

• Certificate of Conduct
• A Dog With a Health Care Plan
• Museum Tours for the Blind
• Juggling Fire While Drumming
• Walked Away Singing

• Sham Elias: Hi Natalia, I've got a new blog up. I have just added your ...
• mister anchovy: The ferry is really beautiful...
• Sally: I follow your blog over here in England as I love the musica...
• Pamela: I heard Tao Qi sing in subway station, Lex + 51. I bought t...
• John Bosley: Natalia, Though it's been over 30 years since I left NYC, i...
• Cathy Grier: Thanks for sharing the day. I'm sorry that I missed it!...
• Bob Holman: Gee, Saw Lady, this is astonishing reportage, and here I tho...

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• 59th street & Lexington
• busking
• Music Under New York
• musical saw
• Shuttle
• St. George Ferry Terminal
• Times Square
• Uncategorized
• Union Square
• Whitehall Ferry Terminal

A gentleman helped me bring my busking gear up the stairs at the subway station. He told me that he has seen & heard me numerous times at 14th street and at Times Square. I told him I’m on my way to 14th street now and he asked how I determine where to go to play in the subway, so I explained about the permits for playing in the NYC subway. “That way there are no arguments between musicians over the spots” he said. He concluded by saying “Now I can saw that I saw the Saw Lady”

A guy told me that he is on his way to get a “Certificate of Conduct” from the police. He needs it for a job in the Cayman Islands (south of Florida).

A lady wanted to leave her flyers advertising her Spanish lessons with me. I explained to her that it would be more beneficial to her to hang her flyers on bulletin boards.

Remi, the Haitian singer, came to say ‘hi’. As usual he was dressed beautifully with a raffled shirt and a black tail coat.

An old man sang along my playing of ‘Edelweiss’.

Photographer: Curtis Palmer

At 4pm I wanted to pack up and call it a day, but Albert, the messenger, insisted that I play one more song, so I did.

As I was climbing up the stairs at the subway station, an MTA construction worker was climbing down, carrying a ladder. “You still play?” he asked me. It always warms my heart when people recognize me.

As the train passed the 59th street subway station I could see Frankie playing his guitar on the platform.
At 14th street, where I changed trains, there was a quartet of bass, drums, accordion and singing guitar player playing on the opposite platform.

The ferry to Staten Island was late because there was dense fog. The boat I boarded is called ‘Senator John J. Marchi’. During the ride I could see nothing but fog. At one point the top of a passing boat emerged slightly out of the fog. the Manhattan skyline was invisible. As we got further from Manhattan the fog eased up a bit and seagulls were flying along side the boat.
The torch of the Statue of Liberty was lit, even though it was daytime.

A guy told me he just saw me on TV 15 minutes ago.

A terminal worker told me that it is unusual that it is more foggy in Manhattan than on Staten Island.

A guard named Davy, with his 2 year old guard dog McKenny came to say ‘hi’. The dog really liked me and laid down beside me, leaning on my leg. I felt honored. This gave me a chance to chat with the guard.
McKenny the dog was born in a program called ‘Puppies Behind Bars’. His parents were at a prison, where they were used as therapy for inmates.
Davy told me he lived in Florida for 14 years and moved to New York half a year ago in order to start the job with the dog (there ae no jobs with bomb sniffing dogs in Florida, he said). The dog goes home with him at the end of the day and spends 24/7 with him. When the dog retires Davy will keep him. The dog even has a health care plan!
Davy and McKenny the dog work 12 hour shifts, usually at night, which is why he has never seen me before.

A guard asked me for my permit. “You’re good to go 2 to 6″ he said. “You can stay till 7 if you want - we’re not going to kick you out”.

Davy and McKenny the dog left on the 5:10 ferry. Another guard with his dog Bailie came to say ‘hi’ to me. Bailie is very woolly and friendly. I enjoy hugging the guard dogs.

By 6pm I had the beginning of a blister on my left pinkie (from playing the musical saw), which meant it was time to call it a day. I boarded the ferry named ‘Spirit of America’ and sat down next to an old violinist named Stanley, who was on his way to a rehearsal with the Mannes Community Orchestra. We had such a nice conversation that time flew by really fast. All of a sudden a guard came to ask us to leave the boat - we were so deep in conversation that we didn’t notice the ferry has arrived and docked in Manhattan and the passengers all got off already!

It was a rainy and dreary day - I barely dragged myself out to play in the subway today.

Mosaics in the subway: 8th Street N/R station, on the north side of the downtown track.

A guy told me that he tried to play the musical saw when he was a kid on a farm. They had ‘Diston’ saws, both cross-cut and rip. He played with a mallet. I told him Diston saws are known for their good sound, and invited him to the 7th annual NYC Musical Saw Festival I am organizing on July 18th.

Albert, the messenger, told me he saw me on TV last night. Then a Russian sounding lady told me the same.

Photographer: © Aaron Porter

A guy pushing a lady in a wheelchair went into the elevator. The lady waved to me. I didn’t understand why.

A group of three teenagers took my picture and went away. Then they walked by me again. The third time they walked by me they put a bunch of cards in my donations box. The cards advertise the Grace Church. They say: “Is G-d sending you a sign?…To download free music, go to…”. Their church services are held in a theater on the upper west side where I once performed with a rock band.

A lady sitting on the left side bench was holding up religious pamphlets.

After many years of just saying “hi” and “how are you” to the blond blind lady who always passes by at this spot, the blond blind lady stopped to talk to me. Her name is Karen and she works as a teacher to tour guides in museums. She teaches them how to give museum tours for people who are blind or visually impaired.

At 1:15 another lady holding up religious pamphlets sat down on the right side bench. So now there were ladies displaying religious pamphlets in stereo around me.
It turned out that the three teens handing out religious postcards belong to a whole group who was in the subway today, spreading the word out about their church, which also holds comedy nights…

Somebody put a coin from Columbia in my donations bucket. This is going straight into my coin collection.

At 3:45 Sleepy Lester, the harmonica player, came for his permitted spot. He told me the cops gave him a hard time in this spot, even though it has been a permitted spot for years.

On the platform a guy sang and played guitar while a lady in a wheel chair played recorder. I now understood why the lady waved to me before - they are fellow buskers!

On the train on my way to my busking spot there were two Nortenos with an accordion and a guitar. They were taking the train to Manhattan but they were not playing. Apparently, they don’t work this train line.

The three acapela singers who call themselves ‘The Fellows”, Bo, Chill and the one who’s name I always forget, told me they were finished singing on the trains for today because some police officers and a captain got on the train, so the guys decided it was time to stop for the day. Some guy gave them a check for $3,500. When they went to cash it, they discovered the guy put a stop on it. I guess he thought it was a joke…
The guys said they heard on TV that the cops were busting musicians on the streets/subways, rounding them in a van like it was a drug bust. But now supposedly they stopped because people were saying how especially in these dark economic times they like to have music around.

A delivery guy asked me where I’ve been. He noticed that I wasn’t here for two months. I told him I’ve been playing elsewhere on account of the cops busting musicians in this spot. He told me he is off today - he only works two days a week doing deliveries from Brooklyn to Staten Island to Manhattan, than back to Brooklyn.

Pat the painter who exhibits his artwork in the park upstairs showed me his new paintings. He has a beautiful new one of the Brooklyn Bridge and Grand Central Station. He hasn’t been selling his paintings on the street for a while and he misses it. Tomorrow is going to be his first day showing his artwork at Union Square again.
Pat went away, then returned an hour later and gave me a copy of one of his paintings (the one of the Brooklyn Bridge, because it was my favorite out of all his paintings).

Pat

Albert, the messenger, told me that Arnold, the other messenger, got laid off about three months ago. Albert hasn’t seen him since, and neither have I. Maybe he went back to his family’s farm in South Carolina…

Photographer: © Aaron Porter

A sound artist recorded me for a sound installation of sounds of the city he is doing at the Diapazone Art Gallery.

At 4pm Mike Alaska, the drummer who is originally from Texas, was looking for a spot, so I gave him mine. He has been busking in NYC for four months. He is the most diverse drummer I’ve seen - he has an array of different drums and he does a lot of tricks with the drum sticks while playing. He told me that he also juggles fire while drumming, but not in the subway, of course.