Busker Busting

I thought it was just me. I like to ride my bike in and around Central Park in Manhattan, and occasionally I'll stop at places where street performers tend to do their stuff. This past year, though, I've seen very few such performers in the usual places such as Columbus Circle and in front of the Met. Maybe one or two if I'm lucky.

Then I read this article in the New York Times yesterday. The article was about how Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been a champion of the arts and how he's been supporting various fine and performing artists and the venues in which their work is seen or heard, but apparently Bloomberg's support only extends to those who operate in established institutions. Street artists have been harassed and bullied by the Bloomberg administration despite a a legal case decided in their favor.

I, of course, love street artists and performers - even the bad ones - and I am writing an article on one such performer, of course, so I was peeved when I read this. Bloomberg himself is more of participator than a spectator, which is why, ironically enough, he doesn't see many movies, watch a lot of television, or attend many concerts. It seems to me, though, that he should be supporting street art in New York. After all, the artists themselves are doing rather than watching, and some of them involve their audiences in their performance (think jugglers). They've had their scuffles with Rudolph Giuliani, who thought any kind of art at all was subversive. Bloomberg has been friendlier to the arts overall, but that doesn't excuse his continued Guiliani-era policy of harassing street performers, many of whom have few if any alternative spaces to perform in.

If you think this is unfair, contact the mayor's office at www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html today. I plan to do so.