May 12-20, 2012
I did the Meatpacking District over the course of the two beautiful weekends in May 2012. The sun was out and so were all the beautiful people strolling through the trendy Meatpacking District.
On May 19, I decided to hit up the High Line Park again but when we got there, the Park Police werent to happy with me. They told me that I had 2 choices, Either leave or play and get a $250 summons. But he wasnt specific. He told me I could play as long as I didn't attract more than 25 people. Its a very silly rule and I decided to leave. But as I left I took some photos and played a short song. What really made no sense was the fact that the week before I played my piano for 2 hours and no one gave me a problem. Check out Location #1: The High Line Park.
I decided to stroll around the Meat Packing and stop at all the restaurants with outdoor seating. I passed by the Standard Hotel which was packed with people eating and drinking their Brunch cocktails. It was a little loud so after a few songs I continued down Washington St and went to play piano in front of Pastis.
I played for a half an hour and continued to the restaurant next door, Serafina which was much better because it was a smaller, more intimate space. People were coming up to me and the restaurant people were welcoming.
This led me to explore the restaurants hidden on Gansevoort Street. I played in front of the restaurants: The Double Seven and MPD and even met the manager who told me to come back later and play for the dinner crowd.
Whats funny was that I basically became a "cocktail hour" pianist and the people who were eating dinner came out to drop a few dollars in my bucket. It was all a great time and I had some good but brief conversations.
The best moment came when I played under the High Line Park at the end of Gansevoort and Washington Ave. The Acoustics were wonderful because the sound was able to bound off the bottom of the Highline. People were crowding and taking photos. I actually got a ton of tweets at this spot. Below is a map of all the locations I played at in the Meatpacking District.
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