"If I Can Make it There, I'll Make it Anywhere..."

In the 14th Street-Union Square subway, there's a man with Alanis Morrisette hair that wears a black leotard, doing an Usher-esque sideways shimmy and high kicks while shredding chords on his electrical violin.

There's a 3-man calypso band that plays in the 42nd Street station who's cheerful rhythm's are usually accompanied by a delighted, yet slightly inebriated woman who'll dance along on the platform, unconcerned by the fact that her train has come and gone, twice.

I've seen a boy who looks to be no older than 10 years old playing concierto's by Mozart, Dad quietly observant a few feet away, on a keyboard bigger than he is at 34th Street.

And that's just underground...

I spilled half of my coffee the other day while reading in Central Park being startled by an unexpected yell piercing the air, followed by "Thriller" booming so loudly on portable speakers, you could feel the bass vibrating through the wooden benches. A Michael Jackson impersonator/B-boy crew. Go figure.

When I think of New York, I imagine the best of the best. The most talented, the most competitive, the most heart-wrenching battle of the survival of the fittest. People from all over the world come here to succeed; make a way for themselves & give their dreams a chance to take flight. And there are indeed a few who go on to to gain international recognition; their faces on the cover of UsWeekly and a 2-minute chat with Matt Lauer on the Today show.

But more often, there are those who push for years. Never getting that "Oh-so-exciting phone call from a famous director or the accidental notice of a multi-million dollar business executive. But they've managed to become celebrities here. Of the people.

There's a man by the name of Craig Schwartz, more commonly known as "RadioMan" who years ago started riding his bike around town from the Bronx to Staten Island popping up on different movie sets; earning his nickname by wearing a radio around his neck everywhere he goes. Irony should have it that even though he appears to be homeless, he probably gets more onscreen work than the typical struggling NY actor (most recently in the Leonardo Dicaprio film, Shutter Island!).

One fact I've come to realize in my short time here is this: You could have dreams of moving here and opening a knitting school for the blind and thoroughly fail in the attempt. But New York city seems to be the only place on earth where you can get right back up and open a disco-themed knitting school for the blind and take off like a rocket.