One of those nights on the platform when people seem to gravitate towards you, one after another, and proceed to tell you their life story….their ENTIRE life story ‪#‎Busktherapy‬ Photo – Jennifer Thomas

Never fails to fascinate me how people show their appreciation or attempt to connect. Today a guy walked all the way over, the entire length of the platform, eyes fixed on me and smiling, not to tell.me something or drop a dollar in my case, no….he walked over to gently touch my strumming hand while I was singing. He touched it & walked away. ‪#‎NYC‬ ‪#‎Busk‬ Photo –Henning Fischer

Snow day hangin’ Uptown with Danny (aka Geechee Dan). Wokin’ on tunes with engineer David at the board

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/nyc-subway-performers-policed-24951079

Subway acrobats, dancers and musicians on Tuesday decried what they said was heavy-handed policing, gathering outside City Hall to join critics of a police clampdown on minor offenses.

One activist suggested a temporary halt to subway performer arrests, which have spiked this year as officers zeroed in on minor crimes to set a tone of not tolerating lawlessness. But several performers said they just hope to arrange a way to perform without fearing arrest.

“We dance. We sing. We’re not criminals. … We shouldn’t really get locked up for showing our talent,” said Zenon “Tito” Laguerre, a 34-year-old construction worker and subway acrobat who said he was arrested last week.

The police department had no immediate response to the performers’ complaints. Mayor Bill de Blasio said last month that subway stunts may not seem like big offenses, “but breaking the law is breaking the law.”

Transit rules generally allow performing for tips in parts of subway stations, but not in trains unless artists have permits. They can use amplifiers only under certain conditions.

More than 240 subway performers have been arrested so far this year, about four times as many as during the same period last year, according to police statistics.

Some subway riders see the performers as part of the city’s anything-goes artistic environment. But others roll their eyes at hearing “it’s showtime!” on hectic commutes. Police also say subway dancing can be dangerous, though no injuries have been reported.

The rise in arrests dovetails with Police Commissioner William Bratton’s embrace of the “broken windows” theory of policing, which holds that putting up with small-time law-breaking can foster more dangerous crime. The approach has come under scrutiny since an officer used a chokehold last month in confronting a man suspected of selling untaxed cigarettes; he died after gasping “I can’t breathe!”

Bratton noted Tuesday on WNYC-FM’s “The Brian Lehrer Show” that most major crime has dropped in the city this year — although shootings have risen — and that smaller, quality-of-life offenses are offenses nonetheless.

“If people would obey the law, then they would not draw the attention of the police,” he said.

Some subway performers who comply with the rules still get arrested or told to leave, said Matthew Christian, a violinist who spearheads an advocacy group called BuskNY. Other subway performers acknowledge they’ve broken the rules but say police should focus on crime, not on what the buskers see as entertainment and entrepreneurship.

“This is New York City culture,” says Andrew “Goofy” Saunders, a 20-year-old acrobat who has stopped performing on trains amid the crackdown. “It shouldn’t be pushed away. It should be embraced.”

———

Associated Press writer Tom Hays contributed to this report.

http://gothamist.com/2014/08/12/subway_performers_nypd.php

In New York City, it’s perfectly legal, in most cases, for buskers to perform on station platforms—a fact of which many NYPD officers are apparently unaware. BuskNY, a coalition of freelance performers, have grown pretty tired of being arrested, jailed and slammed with pricey summonses for an activity they know to be legal under the MTA’s guidelines, and today they gathered on the steps of City Hall to call for it to stop.

Matthew Christian, a classically trained violinist who was arrested last year for playing a piece by Johann Sebastian Bach on the 68th Street-Hunter College station platform, read from the MTA’s own “Rules of Conduct” the portion that specifically states that “artistic performances, including the acceptance of donations” are permitted “provided they do not impede transit activities.”

The habit of arresting subway performers is not only harmful to the performers, but the NYPD’s credibility, Christian said. It’s also expensive—as many as 15 performers are in the process of suing the NYPD for wrongful arrest, which means the city could potentially owe up to $100,000 in settlements.

Christian argued that the mistreatment by cops is largely to blame for sending performers onto the trains—which is, in fact, illegal. Arrest of on-train buskers has rocketed in the last year, but performers say the punishment for getting caught is extreme.

“If they were safe on the platform, which means if they weren’t at risk of being wrongfully arrested, and if the MTA supported and facilitated freelance and made sure that there weren’t arrests, then I don’t think they would be in the train,” Christian said.

Zenon Laguerre, 34, said he was the first performer to take dancing to the train more than 20 years ago. He and other performers are aware that what they’re doing is illegal, but he doesn’t think the punishment fits the crime.

“We dance because we love doing it—it pays the bills and keeps us out of trouble,” he said. “We dance. We sing. We’re not criminals.”

Several performers said they were optimistic that the wrongful treatment of buskers would diminish with the arrival of Bill de Blasio, and were disappointed to see that bullying by cops has only increased thanks to Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and his “broken windows” police tactics, in which the NYPD aggressively cracks down on minor offenses.

If a dancer receives six violations, it becomes a misdemeanor—five misdemeanors becomes a felony. Laguerre argue that to be charged so extremely for dancing is absurd.

“You’re locking me up for dancing while there’s criminals on the street,” he said.

Thank you so much fellow NYC busker, Ghsts N Guitars for helping me relocate my courage today to brave the trains again. I ventured back under & miraculously got to sing uninterrupted! So many happy, smiling faces – moms, kiddies & flowers everywhere. Even had Cynthia Nixon run after me in the train car to give me a very kind tip #buskinglovefrommoviestars 

There’s this violin player on the 7 who is always happy & always cheerily fiddlin’ away despite his accompanying sign that pleads for help for his wife who, apparently needs a liver transplant & has for a very long time… He’s there every afternoon as I hop on & off the 7 train while busking. Today he motioned me over as he was counting bills, big bills, $20’s $50’s etc & in English/Italian said; “You know how much I make?”
“Ummm, no” I said
“$300-$500 in 2-3 hours”
“omg!!!” I exclaimed wondering if the sick wife thing was real or merely the ‘lucrative part of the act’ at which point he grabbed my hands and flipped them both over saying; “No ring?”
“Oh no, no, no, no…” I heard myself repeat many times (another story) Then he looked straight at me & pointed to himself & to me & back to himself again & asked: “You? Me? Italia? Marry?”
Well that mystery got solved super fast! And I’ve obviously been workin’ this Subway thing totally wrong  #humanpsychology101

I have yet to find anything in this city that compares to the gift of busking the NYC Subways. The ability to give and receive love & smiles hour after hour in an environment usually filled with the exact opposite is rare. I hold such love for the privilege & freedom all of us performing down there hold onto literally at this point, by our fingertips. As most of humanity is silently allowing their freedoms to be stripped from them, one by one – buskers continue to struggle daily against obstacles most of humanity has yet to experience, just to have a voice. That struggle, is & has always been inherent in our work. As long as we are down there & continuing to fight for our first amendment, our right to make art, to entertain & spread happiness, I am proud & blessed to be part of this community of  creative, courageous  gypsies. <3