OPINION: MTA’s Music Under New York thrives despite digital competition
Despite the fact that so many transit riders nowadays are rushing from place to place plugged into their phones and can’t even hear what’s happening in the background, MTA’s Music Under New York program, which presents musicians in the subway system, Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and Metro North, is still thriving and making life better for both riders and musicians.
In Brooklyn, the program presents musical artists at two heavily trafficked transfer stations, Court Street-Borough Hall and Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center; at Grand Army Plaza station, which serves many riders as a gateway to Prospect Park; and at two locations within the LIRR’s Atlantic Terminal, which connects with the aforementioned Atlantic Avenue subway station.
This writer recently spoke to MTA spokeswoman Amanda Kwan and to Sandra Bloodworth, director of MTA Arts & Design, which supervises Music Under New York. Together, they cleared up some misconceptions about the program, which has been going strong since 1985.
For one, according to Bloodworth, the program “presents” artists, rather than giving them a license to perform. Anyone has a right to perform music in the subway passageways and stations, although not in the trains per se (some special nostalgia train rides have included musicians, with official approval). The program also gives the performers a particular place to play, and sometimes the locations are requested by the performers themselves.