[Week 14] Tony, The Two-Dollar MUNY Performer.

“Hey! Hey! Give me two dollars if you want to take a photo!” 

“See, you don’t give money to black people!”

Tony “Pots and Pans”

Can you see him? I can’t. Well, at least in this photo. He was sitting against the light. But I have something to say about him. Yes, he is black. That shouldn’t matter. But I guess it mattered to him.

He is one of the performers that Music Under New York (MUNY) has and he was assigned to play at Times Square (4nd Street) subway station. He is the first MUNY performer that I found odd. He asks for money. 2 Dollars to be exact. You have to pay before you can take a photo or a video of him. I do that whenever I take photos of these subway performers but I give wholeheartedly. I felt weird giving money to Tony. For me he was rude. But I gave him two dollars, anyway.  And because there were a lot of people (some tourists) who wanted to take a photo/video of him, he ended up shouting at them and not playing music, the reason why he was on that spot.

This is him shouting:

[Week 9] Doing what she loves.

Marcella Louise, opera singer

I like watching Music Under New York (MUNY) perform. I usually see them at Times Square/ 42nd Street subway station. Last week I had the courage to talk to that week’s performers, The Park Project. This week, I watched an opera singer perform. It was very cold and she seemed new. Marcella Louise.

She kept on apologizing for her beautiful voice. But she’s right. It is hard to sing when it’s too cold. People were just walking in front of her. Everyone was in a hurry because of the numbing cold in that place. But she carried on for the two or three people who stayed with her to watch (that included me).

While she was singing, I signaled to her that I am going to take her photo using my Instax, which she gave an approval. I gave her a copy and she was glad to accept it. I learned that MUNY assigns these artists to some station. And she was assigned at Times Square for a few days this week. I learned that she’s from the University of Texas, SA. Bravely, she went to NY. She loves what she’s doing. It was obvious as she talks. I met a lot of people this week who are her opposite. And it’s a breeze to have met her by the end of the week.