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Time-Lapse Vid Shows What Happens When a Piano Is Left ‘Solo’ on the Streets of NYC

Dec. 14, 2012 8:35pm Liz Klimas

New York filmmaker Anthony Sherin describes his latest film as “pure serendipity,” in a post on the New York Times.

He wrote that as he went to his desk thinking he was ready to start another film, he heard someone tickling the keys of a piano. The source? It was outside on the street in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. It was just left there.

“I was mesmerized by the pattern that emerged,” Sherin wrote. “Passers-by would slow, stop and play. Some played well. All day long they collected and dispersed, and into the night they measured, shoved and deliberated the piano’s fate.”

Solo, Piano NYC Shows What Happens to an Abandoned Piano on the Street

(Image: Youtube screenshot)

He mind-reads the thoughts of many who stopped by, saying that no one wanted to leave it there. Many pondered if they’d somehow be able to take the grand instrument home.

(Image: Youtube screenshot)

The next morning though, the piece, which many clearly expressed interest in making their own (if they could), was broken down with sledge hammers and swept away.

(Image: Youtube screenshot)

Putting together still photographs he took with an original piano score by his friend Art Labriola, Sherin had his film, which he says he’s shown at festivals.

Watch the artful piece depicting an abandoned instrument’s fate in “Solo, Piano — N.Y.C.”:

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Comments (61)

ThankBabyJesus
Posted on December 15, 2012 at 9:18am
http://youtu.be/uFztDZRtplw

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- stupid_news
  Posted on December 15, 2012 at 2:39pm
  only thing that doesnt make sense is why random people would break the piano down, they are not city workers, and believe me it takes a few hours to break one down. Its a process and they knew how. takes a month for city to remove anything and just by chance rude stranger willing broke one down at no charge. hummm
  
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- The-Monk
  Posted on December 15, 2012 at 10:01pm
  @jed_brophy You can run but you can’t hide…. Bwahahahahahahahahahha…..
  
  CALLING ALL WHITE HAT HACKERS THAT WANT TO SHUT DOWN A NIGERIAN IDENTITY THEFT RING THAT POSTS EVERY DAY HERE. THEIR IP ADDRESS IS 98.126.39.196
  
  PLEASE REPLY TO ME HERE IF YOU WANT AND I CAN GIVE YOU MORE DETAILS IF YOU NEED THEM !!!
  
  That’s right troll…. You are not welcome here anymore. : )
  
  Report this comment
- 1947
  Posted on December 16, 2012 at 11:15pm
  Everything goes down in NY ….. it just goes away …the best of LIFE…….
  
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AGreyGhost
Posted on December 15, 2012 at 7:55am
We dont get to see many of these stories. Beautifully sad. That old piano had it’s day, and on the last one, had a hell of a last Hurrah. Not many get that. Ohhhh the stories it could tell, and did.

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- afishfarted
  Posted on December 15, 2012 at 1:26pm
  Interestingly, I saw it as a testament to society; if left alone, people can find happiness in the strangest of places without intruding on anyone else. But somehwere along the line, that joy is forceably take away by someone else.
  Whether it be in a personal expierence, or whether it be government oppression by over regulating, someone or something is always at the ready to say “no you can’t do that”.
  
  Report this comment
jaynice
Posted on December 15, 2012 at 7:04am
So sad they killed it!!! Yes I was almost brought to tears. Couldn’t a group home or teeen center have used it?? Our throw away society.

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- EveF.Destruction
  Posted on December 16, 2012 at 9:47am
  It may have needed too many expensive repairs to be useful to a charity. Still it’s sad to watch the death of a piano.
  
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WAR PIGS CRAWLING
Posted on December 15, 2012 at 6:45am
A similar thing happened to me when I left my piano unattended in Joubert, SD………….no, no you’re right…..I guess it didn’t……but I have been to Joubert, SD.

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GO-FOR-LIBERTY
Posted on December 15, 2012 at 6:10am
Pianos are fun to play. When I asked my piano tuner what they did with old pianos? His reply “toss them in the dumster, they become to costly to repair, What do you do with old cars”? As for me I was horrified to hear this. Sad that for perhaps this one moment in these walker-bys lives they could “make music”. Congrats to the couple at the end of the clip. I just hope they had more help coming pianos are in a word~~~~~~~~ “HEAVY”

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- chips1
  Posted on December 16, 2012 at 12:10pm
  Obamacare has crept into the music of America. Too old to be useful. The destruction of America’s treasures.
  
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LeadNotFollow
Posted on December 15, 2012 at 4:02am
This old discarded piano brought temporary joy into some lives.

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- LeadNotFollow
  Posted on December 15, 2012 at 4:06am
  So sad, to see it destroyed.
  
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LeadNotFollow
Posted on December 15, 2012 at 4:01am
In our fast paced, selfish lives, we tend to forget that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
For everything we discard, someone else is willing to give it a home.

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- TurboCat
  Posted on December 15, 2012 at 4:56am
  “Aaaaaaaaaaaagh!!! They killed the piano!!! They KILLED it!”
  
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- JW325
  Posted on December 15, 2012 at 12:17pm
  yes it brought on smiles of joy for those that stopped to play its keys…. but there was one couple that came back with moving dollies to rescue it, unfortunately they were just a few hours late.
  
  Viewing this film for its artistic value, this was a great project.
  
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Mustanger
Posted on December 15, 2012 at 12:56am
I found a piano once in the desert about 50mi from pavement. We did just as the people did in the movie. A year later it was there, a little haggard. The following year it was shot up. A few months later it had been used as a Bon fire. It became a destination. That was ’96 when it started.

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RisetovotesiR
Posted on December 15, 2012 at 12:29am
a brief history of conservatism?

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- voodoolife
  Posted on December 16, 2012 at 2:22pm
  Yawn…
  
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Z
Posted on December 15, 2012 at 12:06am
The Touch of the Master’s Hand

‘Twas battered and scarred,
And the auctioneer thought it
hardly worth his while
To waste his time on the old violin,
but he held it up with a smile.

“What am I bid, good people”, he cried,
“Who starts the bidding for me?”
“One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two?”
“Two dollars, who makes it three?”
“Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three,”

But, No,
From the room far back a gray bearded man
Came forward and picked up the bow,
Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet
As sweet as the angel sings.

The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said “What now am I bid for this old violin?”
As he held it aloft with its’ bow.

“One thousand, one thousand, Do I hear two?”
“Two thousand, Who makes it three?”
“Three thousand once, three thousand twice,
Going and gone”, said he.

The audience cheered,
But some of them cried,
“We just don’t understand.”
“What changed its’ worth?”
Swift came the reply.
“The Touch of the Masters Hand.”

And many a man with life out of tune
All battered with bourbon and gin
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like that old violin

A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on.
He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.

But the Master comes,
And the f

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- Z
  Posted on December 15, 2012 at 12:11am
  But the Master comes,
  And the foolish crowd never can quite understand,
  The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
  By the Touch of the Masters’ Hand.
  
  Myra Brooks Welch
  
  Report this comment
- nzkiwi
  Posted on December 15, 2012 at 12:36am
  That was a nice poem, Z.
  
  It was a little sad to see the piano destroyed. I wonder how many children learned to play on it, and how many families sang around it.
  
  It’s a pity that the young couple were too late to rescue it, but that’s life, I guess…
  
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- shasta
  Posted on December 15, 2012 at 12:51am
  Zzzzzzzzz..ty for the post… that was an awesome poem. I don’t know where you found it, But I would like to copy/save it. Some never understand what a master can do with an instrument or tool that the “feeble” cannot comprehend. If I walked by, I DEFINETLEY would have been caught playing that piano…and if I seen someone starting to destroy it like that….. I would like to think if I had the means I would have saved the piano…whether for myself or re-furbish for someone who could use it.
  
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- loriann12
  Posted on December 15, 2012 at 8:44am
  I used to do a clown skit to that poem. We had an old violin, and one of our Aguste clowns was the auctioneer, we sat around refusing to bid. Then we had a Hobo clown come in and take it and “play” it, and we were all amazed and tried to outbid each other. It was our “closing” sit, leading to an altar call. Thanks for the memories.
  
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lamarlamar
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 10:57pm
I never understood why some people MUST destroy what they don’t understand!

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- Chuck Stein
  Posted on December 15, 2012 at 2:50am
  That does happen. No doubt. I think that the destruction in this case was at the hands of city workers under instruction to keep the sidewalk clear (IDK why the trees were left there).
  
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- Exiled
  Posted on December 15, 2012 at 3:47am
  Pianos don’t last forever, especially neglected ones. Repairing them is often not possible, and they’re worth more as scrap. Pianos of the sort in this story are almost a dime a dozen (you can get one at my local thrift store for $50).
  
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- snufy
  Posted on December 15, 2012 at 5:25pm
  I’m sure it was broken down for the scrap value.
  It was refreshing to see people smile as they played it. In this fast world, sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses.
  
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R.A. Bullseye
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 10:57pm
This confirms for me that people are basically destructive droids. A better ending would have seen the old classic piano saved and refinished and played again….but that’s not life is it?

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- chrisden
  Posted on December 14, 2012 at 11:50pm
  I agree the piano should have been refurbished and donated to a community center or family, however, I don’t think that this was a random act of violence against the piano. I think the city ordered that the piano be dismantled and hauled away. Why else would you have the guy seeping up afterwards. Just saying…..
  
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- Exiled
  Posted on December 16, 2012 at 1:17am
  The piano wasn’t salvageable. It would be cheaper to buy a new one and donate it to your senior center than to try to refurbish one of those things. Sometimes, things wear out. It’s just natural. There’s no sense wasting countless hours and dollars trying to refurbish something that can be built new for a lot less.
  
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John 1776
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 10:50pm
Oh, I thought the musician’s union came around and destroyed it because non-union musicians were playing it.

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- R.A. Bullseye
  Posted on December 14, 2012 at 10:58pm
  lol
  
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- Hatchimon
  Posted on December 15, 2012 at 3:57am
  Exactly! They need “Right – to – Play” legislation in New York. Of course, Bloomberg is battling right-to-drink and right-to-eat so maybe one fight at a time.
  
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minpin
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 10:31pm
Classic..al

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chips1
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 10:19pm
The world is a piano. Liberals are tone deaf!

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TeslanEdison
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 10:19pm
Call it what it is, Piano Murder, a violent gang of men killing art in broad daylight. In Obama’s creation of America If you’re poor you don’t care about music, books, art, if they can be turned in to heat, food, or money for comfort. Reminds me of movies about Nazi Germany, especially painful when the young couple came back to liberate the piano from it’s fate too late.

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yanki161
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 9:57pm
Haters gonna hate.

I liked it.

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- R.A. Bullseye
  Posted on December 14, 2012 at 10:55pm
  Senseless idiots are going to be senseless. Why did was it destroyed? Did it make you feel good to watch it’s destruction?
  
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OldSurfRat
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 9:29pm
I normally do not say this but this was a wounderful work of art.

Nicely Done!!

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Walkabout
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 9:18pm
3 things.

1. If given a chance people will try to perform music for themselves or those around them
2. Maybe this old piano could have been given to a community center. A tech could have tuned it. A little more entertainment like this leads to less violence. and that goers for any race. I had a discussion with my old man about why the local city wanted a community gym in a very much predominantly “white city”. His comment was “pay me know or pay me later”. It won’t prevent all crime but it will make a dent.
3. Scrap metal is worth something. Still think the piano was better off in a community center.

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SaturdaysWarrior76
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 9:15pm
I love things like this! I think this story is beautiful in it’s own way. You just have to look deeper at things sometimes to find the beauty. The human spirit can be a beautiful thing and it shines at the simplest moments.. like reaching out to tap the keys of an old piano, just because… :)

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HollyRye
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 9:14pm
I was so sad when the young couple came back with dollies, too late to save the old piano.
A lovely piece. Thank you for sharing.

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macpappy
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 9:07pm
There are so, so many stories that could have used this space. Stories about real events that matter in your life, but this is the real news we are fed.

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- nzkiwi
  Posted on December 15, 2012 at 12:40am
  It’s nice to stop and smell the roses sometimes, Macpappy.
  
  Don’t worry, there is plenty of hatred and war still to come. And endless amount, really…
  
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- zman173rd
  Posted on December 15, 2012 at 11:13am
  Take a deep breath MACHAPPY, the worst is yet to come. Enjoy these quiet peaceful moments while we have them. Enjoy those short periods of love and laughter and solitude that stories like this bring. They also show short lived hope and tireless faith.
  I avoided the stories of senseless killings of the children in the school massacre for two days. I can’t bear to think about it. I need things like this to stay human.
  
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grayling646
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 8:58pm
Right again. I knew this was a Liz story when I saw the headline. Thanks

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- TurboCat
  Posted on December 15, 2012 at 5:10am
  That’s right MacPappy! Some of us enjoyed this story. After all, it’s not like you don’t have a gazillion other choices if you would like. But, of course, begrudge with a grudge if you must.
  
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Shastaman
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 8:55pm
Sad

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N37BU6
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 8:53pm
I understand the intent, but think it ultimately failed… I didn’t see anything inspiring, or funny, or precious. Just people messing with junk in the street.

Take away the music, and it’s pretty mundane.

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- Hatchimon
  Posted on December 15, 2012 at 4:05am
  You miss the point, and that’s where you fail. If you cannot see anything inspiring, joyful, or worthwhile then you are buried in the mundane. And, if you are going to “mess with your junk” by all means – just keep your worm in your pants whilst out in the street.
  
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