Music in the Subways
by Michelle Accorso & Pola Rosen, Ed.D.

It was 9:30 am, a bit past the morning crush of riders heading to work on a typical day in New York City. At the downtown platform of 86th Street and Lexington Avenue, Richard Mirayes, playing acoustical guitar and singing to the admiration of some passers-by, was impervious to the screeching of the trains. Trained at Santa Monica College, he started lessons at the age of 8 and by age 12 was playing drums in bands. At age 14, he began to record and sing in the background to Frankie Valle.

“The subway is the only place to practice where people don’t bang on the walls,” smiled Mirayes. The money helps to pay for studio time for students and strings, which he changes twice a week. When asked about difficulties with the work, he instead discussed the perks of the subway musician. He gets a brand new audience every 4 minutes and more breaks than with a union job. I’m happy “if I can make people forget that they’re in a rat infested subway, so crowded with people.” In about 4 hours, Mirayes makes about $70. On a weekend with tourists coming by, he makes about $125 for 5-6 hours of work. He’s never had a problem. People are very cooperative, he says. His favorite song: Take It to the Limit.

We met Steven Clark at the 34th Street Station. A performer for 17 years, he learned on his own starting at the age of 6, while in the Chicago public schools. “Sometimes I go to Times Square; sometimes I’m outdoors at Yankee Stadium. I feel the spirit behind me and I love entertaining,” said Clark. He works 5-7 days per week and makes about $200-300 per day. One of the problems he has faced is going to jail for begging. He was held overnight and fined $50. A high moment in his life was when a woman noticed he was feeling ill and gave him $50. His role model and inspiration is Michael Jackson.

Eunique Mack, a vocalist at 42nd Street started singing as a little kid. For the past 10 years, he’s been in the subways. He’s part of the MTA Arts for Transit. You call them, he explained and request a site. You can work 3 days per week for about 3 hours. “I make about $20,” he said. His favorite musician is Sam Cook.

At 14th street we met Eric Lino and David Murph on the flute and Jimboy on the bongos. The music was jazz and calypso, popular songs. “Smiles on people’s faces and little kids that love us, that makes us feel good,” the musicians said. They play from 3-8 hours. The worst thing that ever happened was having their equipment impounded before they signed with Music in New York. John Coltrain has been the greatest influence in their music.

In another corner of 14th Street (the station is a large hub for many trains to different boroughs), Sixto Masaquaya, was playing the music of Ecuador that he learned on his own. Only 2 years in the subways of the United States, he was wearing the poncho of his small, native town and playing an instrument called Canacho Quimacho Ouena Zompona, which is made of bamboo. While conversing with him in Spanish, he said a low point was when he was arrested; a high point of playing was seeing the emotion that his music evoked, seeing people cry.

The next time you pass subway musicians, think of the love of music that they have and want to share with the public, despite the din and roar of the trains. Their music brightens a gray, underground place. Isn’t it worth a little spare change?#