There’s a long list of things I hate about New York, and as a native New Yorker I feel entitled to every single one of these things. In my unofficial top ten portion of said list I would be remiss not to include Williamsburg (and anything associated with it) and subway performers. (I can go into glorious detail about these and other items on the list, but I’ll save that for another post.)
So as luck would have it, I stumbled across a video this past weekend of these two annoying items crammed into one — a hipster doofus performing tired classic rock songs on the Metropolitan station platform. What’s not to hate?This “struggling artist” is “told” by one of New York’s “finest” to to quit the hippy sh*t and pack up. Instead of following orders, our Billyburg friend decides to cite a law that gives him the right to sing “How I Wish You Were Here” on that and every other subway platform he damn well pleases. Take a look.
Here’s the thing: as much as my skin may crawl at the site of another naive transplant thinking he or she is living the true New York lifestyle by performing on dirty subway platforms instead of realizing that their clean and cozy parent’s house in Nebraska is much better option, it’s not what I hate most about the video. It’s the continual abuse of power of New York City cops that I hate. It’s the enormous egos some of these cops have. And it’s the unwavering stubbornness they display, refusing to follow the letter of the law (aka their jobs) if it means taking a hit to their pride.
Now, I grew up around many good people who worked for the NYPD, and in no way do I want to make a blanket statement about every man and women who puts on that uniform everyday and helps keep our city safe. But things are getting out of hand. Cops are killing teenagers in their own home and fathers who are sitting on the street. They’re choking out kids who are smoking cigarettes and pushing pregnant women to the ground. The police are supposed to protect and serve, so why are they doing the opposite?
Earlier this month, NYC’s top cop, Commissioner Bill Bratton, held a press conference to tell the city and the world that he was going to clean the force up and remove “dirty cops.” In fact, in perhaps an homage to Domino’s Pizza’s recent self-loathing marketing campaign, Bratton showed images of some of the high-profile NYPD SNAFUs and promised to eliminate that type of behavior from the force. “The reality is at this moment that there’s some in the organization who shouldn’t be here — not the right fit for the NYPD of 2014,” Bratton said. “There are a few, a very few, in a very large organization who just don’t get it.”
I’m sorry, Mr. Bratton, but it seems that you are the one who doesn’t get it. What makes someone a bad fit for the NYPD in 2014 as opposed to 1995 when you first served as commissioner? Might it have something to do with the ubiquity of social media and the fact that the frequent abuse of power is now more easily documented? Methinks it is. So he’s basically saying to his minions, “Don’t get caught.” Way to lead, Bratton.
So here’s where I have to apologize to Andrew Kalleen, the singing man in skinny jeans and a fedora who only wanted to share with a small corner of Brooklyn his melodic tunes and maybe make a buck or two while he was at it. I may not agree with your lifestyle, but gosh darnit I’ll defend to the death your right to live it. Just don’t expect me to give you any money, look in your general direction, or clap when you’ve finished a killer tune if by some chance we run into each other on an underground subway platform.
colin.d.kennedy 