New York City – A “Quiet Zone”
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"Quiet Zone", Author, Bicycling, Busker, Class Action Law Suit, Harassment, Heidi Kole, Musician, NYC, Subways, Tickets
Monday afternoon I wandered down to Union Square and stumbled on a fabulous busker , Morgan Okane, playing his banjo by the fountain. Not one song in the Park Police approached the musician and told him he had to leave. First it was because he was amplified then when they saw he was not they said he had to go anyway – “Because there were more than 20 people listening” the two cops explained.
Seriously NYC? Seriously, this is what is important to you?
The fact that a guy w/ a banjo was making more than 20 people happy at a time seems hardly a reason for law enforcement to step up & do something.
Then this on the news…
Marlon Bishop/WNYC John Boyd, singer, performing in the Bethesda Arcade despite the new regulations that prohibit playing music there.
An acoustically brilliant area near Strawberry Fields, where classical musicians have played unamplified for years in Central Park, has now been deemed a “Quiet Zone” by the city of New York.
A “Quiet Zone” banning classical street musicians entertaining your tourists for free???? Are you kidding me Mayor Bloomberg?
PS – Wasn’t Strawberry Fields named after those guys, those guys who were named after some bug or somethin’? They got really famous for just sitting there in silence hour after hour, day after day…. 🙂
And finally … I found out that my friend and fellow busker/Steel Drummer Caesar Passee, was arrested Friday for playing his Steel Drums in public. He “got a police escort in midday traffic with sirens and all” – Yeah, this is a fabulous use of NYC’s dwindling budget. Good idea Bloomberg – cut thousands of school teachers & close firehouses & spend the little money we have on arresting musicians who are merely exercising their First Amendment. Yeah, this is a great plan…
I’m saddened by the Mayor and the city’s choice to spend so much time, money and manpower shutting down such a harmless, and honestly, life affirming activity as music. I realize you’re fiscally hurting NYC but my God, pick on something useful – music is something that actually makes people happy, not sad, and to trying to ‘clean up the city’ or pull in some cash by arresting musicians is insane.
By the way New York City, I’d venture to say that both the sanitizing of art out of NYC and harassment to enforce that ‘sanitization’ does not make your city more appealing to those visiting…but less.
The bright light in this story is that the musicians are not going anywhere despite the “Quiet Zone” demarcation – I’m proud of my fellow buskers.
Keep the music going…
[…] Heidi Kole, author of The Subway Diaries, wrote on May 30 that she had witnessed a busker, Morgan O’Kane, playing his banjo near the fountain in Union Square. Not long into his set, O’Kane was approached by park police and told that he would have to leave. Initially, the park police thought he was playing amplified (I’ll explain why this matters in a moment). When they realized that he wasn’t, they said that he would have to leave because more than 20 people had gathered to watch him play. […]
Save NYC Buskers http://www.facebook.com/pages/Your-Under-Arrest/157178107681130?v=wall&sk=wall
That is too bad about the above restraints on city residents.
I love to hear music in public places.
I think the only way to play music there is to do what the black market purse salesmen do, lay down your white sheet, pull out your contraband, sell/play and then grab up your white sheet with contraband and run down the street to a new location!
Anyway, the US Army was recruiting in SO. Seaport during the weekend and they were amplified and not in each band: Jazz band, Pop band. The guys who did their street performance were playing Earth, Wind and Fire. Neither group saw any police activity.
I can see how large groups can cause chaos, pick pocketing, perhaps even a random violent attack or fight.
Perhaps one has to pay the city to play in the streets. That is a bit money-grubbing, especially when you are trying to make a living. The US Army has the money to pay the city.
But I agree, music and cycling bring happiness 😉
love ya sweetie.