The video (that won't play) above (click here to watch) features well known subway buskers Heth and Jed in the mini series, Playing For Pocket Change, a series on musicians playing on the streets and in the subways of New York City.
Heth and Jed, currently working on a memoir, Buskers: The On the Trains, In the Streets, Off the Grid Memoir of Two Street Musicians, are also the first interviewees for the NYC The Blog Interview. After initially considering ripping off Andrew Krucoff's Young Manhattanite Interview that ran on Gothamist—and then realizing that New York Magazine had already done so—I needed to come up with my own.
Do Heth and Jed prefer Grimaldi's or Pulino's? What happens if you steal money from their bucket? Welcome to the first NYC The Blog Interview. Enjoy it below.
When did you move to NYC and where did you live?
We moved here in the mid nineties. Our first place was a rent stabilized apartment in the East 60s between Park and Madison Aves. Not sure if there's a name for that neighborhood, but we called it "Fantasy Land" since there were more Bentleys than taxis.
Where do you live now?
I'm still in the same apartment. My brother Jed lives on the Lower East Side (Clinton Street)
What's your favorite thing about living in New York City?
$1 PBRs
Pulino's or Grimaldi's?
Definitely Grimaldi's.
Jed mentions getting in fights while busking. Can you explain why this happens and describe one such situation?
Yes, fights do happen. They occur for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it's a result of a performance spot turf war, or because some has attacked us or stolen money from our case. Drunks are the worst. One time, this guy acted like he was putting a buck in our case but instead scooped out a handful of cash. He ended up with a bloody nose. The cops came and broke it up. As they hauled him away he said, "Do whatever you want to me. I got AIDS. I'll be dead soon anyway."
If you could change one thing about New York, what would it be?
Bring back Time Square sleaze!
Heth and Jed keep a calendar of dates online listing times and subway stations you can see them play.
[Heth and Jed]
Previously:
Subway Musician Professor Edwardo Alvarado
Daniel Small AKA Geechee Dan: 59th St ABCD Subway Station
» Follow NYC The Blog on Facebook and Twitter. Photo credit: Paolo Mastrangelo/NYC The Blog
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