Subway Walks and Subtle Hints

What do you get when you combine a late delayed train, a sweaty journalist, five million people and a singer from Los Angeles?
You get dehydration and a wonderful new friendship.

Yesterday was the big investigation quest for our next story. Our current editor/instructor is Tony Carnes, Senior Writer for Christianity Today. I knew I wanted to do a story on subway musicians, but I didn’t know what angle to choose that hadn’t already been done. Finally, after much debate and a conversation with Mr. Carnes, I decided I was going to focus on the artists with lucrative careers who choose to audition and participate in Music Under New York (MUNY). It’s a program started by the Metro system to help cut down on the crowding of street musicians and give multiple artists a chance to show off their art. By multiple, I mean 350. I was stuck in the classroom until around noon. Then, out I went. The final product of the next two days will be up on the blog soon. I got to attend mini-shows from some amazing artists for only $2.25 and a train ride. Pretty much worth it if you ask me. I spent more money than I was hoping to on tips/CDs, but that was also worth my money and my time.

As I was watching Najib Bahri play under 34th Street and Herald Square, I was asked to coffee by Akirim, a Palestinian man from Queens. I was sung to by a famous subway Doo-Wap group called Spank. Everyone in this city is beautiful. They are not perfect and some are not attractive, but they are all a beautiful part of the streets that I am walking on and living in.

Earlier today, Jonah, Kevin and I filmed my interview with Nicola, an independent female artist who found fame through her part in MUNY. We walked past twenty-five cops all standing by Sketchers on break, and then ran into a “Live Comedy” spokesperson named David. Kevin didn’t know he was a comedian at first because he was asking us if we had a permit for the video camera. We talked about the cops and Fleet Week and gun laws. He was a great guy with a great sense of humor and I hope to return the favor some day.

It’s 5:26 a.m and I’m still up finalizing this video. Time to get a brief hour of sleep before Manny Garcia starts tomorrow. So long, goodnight, and good luck!

COMING SOON:
-Article: Out of the mainstream and into the underground – MUNY Artists
-Personals Profile – Joe Taylor, Musician and Songwriter and my new friend
-Vlogs, smog and more!