Question: What do BYC Buskers and Alec Baldwin have in common?

Answer: Being arrested by Bratton’s rogue army the NYPD for doing nothing!

http://www.bkmag.com/2014/05/14/alec-baldwins-post-arrest-twitter-rant-against-the-nypd-is-pretty-spot-on/

Alec Baldwin was arrested yesterday for riding his bike the wrong way up Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. And while we’re strongly anti-salmoning, and have, at best, mixed feelings about Baldwin (wasn’t he going to move out of New York or something?), we also think that it is completely absurd and indicative of troubling police behavior that, instead of receiving a warning or even a ticket, Baldwin was handcuffed and arrested for what amounts to an incredibly minor offense. And so when Baldwin took to Twitter for one of his patented tirades? We read along, and actually found ourselves agreeing with everything he said. (We know! We were surprised too!) 

Following his arrest and subsequent release (Baldwin left with two Criminal Court summonses), the actor used his social media platform to unleash his side of the story. Baldwin claims that he did not ask for special treatment by the officers who pulled him over, and instead acquiesced to being ticketed. However, the officers claimed that he was being belligerent and took Baldwin in for disorderly conduct. Baldwin is clearly indignant that such a minor offense as riding a bike the wrong way has become an arrest-worthy offense, and there’s little doubt that his frustration is in part due to the actor’s not insignificant persecution complex, however (and this is a big however!), Baldwin hits the nail on the head when he notes, “New York City is a mismanaged carnival of stupidity that is desperate for revenue and anxious to criminalize behavior once thought benign.” What? Yes! Wait. We’re agreeing with Alec Baldwin? The world’s gone MAD.

Even if you weren’t one of the people who had particularly high hopes for the return of Bill Bratton as the chief of the NYPD (which we weren’t; we lived through the Giuliani years… RIP Squeegee Men), it still felt pretty good that Ray Kelly and his policies like Stop-and-Frisk and targeting Muslim-Americans were going to disappear. And, hey! De Blasio ran on a progressive campaign, so how bad could Bratton be? As it turns out, pretty bad! Bratton has made it his mission to focus on criminalizing the homeless population, arresting buskers and subway break dancers, and ticketing jay-walkers (read more about it in the Free Cecily! gazette), all of which means that the police—and the city government—are not only looking to make a lot of money off non-violent crimes, but also that the department as a whole is targeting the most helpless segments of the population. This is bullshit, because it both literally and figuratively handcuffs people who are already struggling and frequently have no recourse other than to do what the police say, no matter how inherently stupid. But because the most recent victim of this overzealous police department just so happened to be a notably vocal, social media “savvy” actor, we’re actually hearing about the absurdity of what the NYPD is doing with this reinstatement of the “broken windows” policy of Bratton’s Guiliani-era heyday. Which, we never thought we’d advocate spreading the Gospel of Baldwin, but in this case, the actor is absolutely right: the NYPD doesn’t have New Yorker’s interests at heart, only their own bottom line. And so, if you have a public platform like Baldwin does, it’s important to speak out against this type of thing, because most of the people being targeted will never be heard.

Author – Kristin Iversen

<script>
(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i[‘GoogleAnalyticsObject’]=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
})(window,document,’script’,’//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js’,’ga’);

ga(‘create’, ‘UA-51488025-1’, ‘thesubwaydiaries.com’);
ga(‘send’, ‘pageview’);

</script>

894698e6c755d73524df6d601b7ec1f83a69363f4e4ed29b9c

Argh Tough month for a NYC busker …
Chemical weapon drill In NYC subway for the entire month of July. Stay sharp if you’re in the area, you never know when one of these things will go live. ~SB~
http://www.businessinsider.com/nypd-will-test-gas-attack-in-the-subway-2013-5

My shot of “Manhattanhenge”  entitled “Manhattanhenge 7.11.12” has been picked up by The Huffington Post – it’s currently #19 of 20 – click the stars next to it where my name is & something good’s supposed to happen 🙂

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/12/manhattanhenge-2012-a-full-sun-aligns-itself-new-york-city-grid-july-11th-photos_n_1667643.html?1342097148#s1216450

The other day I heard a wonderful Futurist, Intuitive & Author, Louise Hauck on Coast to Coast Radio. What I heard inspired me to reach out to Louise as a fellow energy worker & this is her fabulous response 😉

http://www.louisehauck.com/node/5179

Submitted by illuminator on July 9, 2012 – 8:11pm

I was touched by this email from a Coast to Coast listener. She heard me talk about “entraining” others onto a higher vibrational frequency — especially on planes and trains!

Hello Louise,
I have just finished hearing you on C2C and it was both inspiring & made me giggle as I am (among other things) a busker (singer/guitar player) of 6 years in the NYC Subways. I recently have moved onto the train cars to busk as the heat has gotten pretty rough in the city. It’s a different world on the train cars versus the platforms and one thing I’ve noticed is that during the 3 1/2 minutes or so that I’m singing, the sound & energy can actually raise the vibration of those on the train car.

I always prep myself prior to going into the trains – surrounding myself with light & as I call them, ‘my subway angels’ to keep me surrounded by only good vibrations, allow me to do my work & keep the cops away 🙂 When I get on the car I look around at all the people and get a gage of where the vibration is starting from – then I usually choose the one person who is sighing, probably having decided that I should be thrown off the train 🙂 I choose them to channel my energy & sound through. It’s so fabulous, by the end of the song, how the formerly ‘unwelcoming’ person with the scrunched up face will have softened…eyes often closed, having absorbed the sound & vibration that’s been raised throughout the car.

I’ve had many awakenings from my many experiences under the streets of New York, in the NYC subways, the latest being what I am experiencing vibration-wise on the train cars, my intuition becoming quite heightened. Sometimes, I actually invite the higher entities who channel through me in the train cars, to take a verse, a note, a phrase of a song here & there, now & then. I love to let their energies assist in the raising of the vibration of the people who I encounter. This is why I busk, this is why I spent 6 years writing a book, ‘The Subway Diaries’ to share with the world the phenomenal energetic experiences that exist underground the city of New York.

It’s such a fabulous and magical journey we’re all on & I hope more than anything that everyone can get even a small taste of these fabulous & powerful energetic worlds that exist for all of us 🙂

Thank you for your touching stories on C2C – I’ve never heard anyone else, other than myself, speak of the energetic experiences on the NYC Subways – it’s a rich & magical playground for energies to play in & was happy to hear your experiences there & elsewhere.

Love & Light
Heidi Kole
The Subway Diaries

My favourite feedback of the day from a guy who didin’t talk…he got my heart with this ♥ (excuse the blurry train pic – lotta movement on the #1 🙂

Best Amazon review of the week of The Subway Diaries by Lawrence Daly – Lawrence you rock ♥

“Heidi Kole’s spiritual & musical journey through the magical world of subway performers is a must read for anyone who is trying to find joy & meaning in their life. The only thing more fascinating than the people and circumstances she encounters is what Heidi learns as she navigates the twisted tunnels and crowded subway platforms of the underground. Through her eyes we see that angels are all around us, joy is often found in the most unlikely of places and being awake and aware allows all of this and more to flow to us with ease. As Heidi learns about herself as an artist, musician and a human being, she teaches us that living your passion is the key to true happiness. She also shows that if you are searching for the road to enlightenment, you might just find it in the most unconventional of locals and with the help of the most unlikely of souls.”

Ok – now that I’ve braved the train cars, I’ve got my ‘train legs’ down, I’ve only popped myself once in the face w/tuning pegs of my guitar & have mastered the vibe/rhythm of playing the trains, but the one thing I’ve yet to figure out is how, when I’m playing guitar & singing, I can finagle dollars people wave at me before the tune is done…I think I need a busking sherpa 🙂