The Justice

Media Credit: Joel Herzfeld One of many performers in New York City's Times Square Station, James makes a meager living from playing the djembe drum. Photo by Joel Herzfeld/the Justice.

Meet Michael. He's 44 years old, he has black hair, and, until seven years ago, he made a living on Wall Street. Then, he decided, "You know what, fuck this" and quit. He's been playing his guitar down here in the subways of New York City ever since.

Michael is part of a broad network of subterranean performers whose daily calling is to ply their craft at the passers-by they see; performers who compete every day with the roar of a hundred trains and a million people along with the constant commotion of rush hour in belly of the City that Never Sleeps, and still manage to make a connection with a constant rush of distracted commuters. This is what it means to be a subway performer.

Jan. 8 at Penn Station was a slow day for Michael. His total take, between tips and CD sales, was $62. Usually he makes about $80 a day. Most performers I spoke to make between $65 and $100 a day. "I'm not making a million dollars, but I'm not punching a clock either," Michael tells me in a phone interview. "I believe in what I'm doing."

Michael's bit is the classical guitar. This is what sets him apart from other performers, he tells me. He used to play five- or six-hour sets for five or six days a week a few years ago -a lot of time for anyone to be playing an instrument-but in 2003, he "almost died" from diabetes and lost the use of his left index finger for a year and a half. He's still recovering, and now he plays only two- to three-hour sets two or three times a week. The industry standard is two to four hours a day for five or six days a week.

"I'm not a beggar, I'm a musician," he says. There's a trace of bitter indignation in his voice that suggests an oft-denigrated talent. The money isn't important, he asserts. That's not the reason he's down here. Michael is here because he believes in "just touching people, reaching out." He gets them to relax, he tells me-it's not like "[I'm] just sitting on my guitar" all day long.

Continued...

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