The well-known subway performer, who has performed the musical saw on the subway for more than 20 years, says she had a bad feeling about her safety even before a tattooed hooligan brazenly stole cash from her tip purse at Union Square station this week.
Bystander video shows Natalia “So Lady” Pals swing the bowstring On Tuesday, she shamelessly had her tips stolen by a shoeless man who typically coaxes otherworldly sounds out of her instrument.
Pals can be heard helplessly calling the police as the tattooed, shoeless thief runs off toward the station ticket gates.
In an exclusive interview with The Washington Post, Palouse said this was just the latest incident of intimidation he has experienced in recent months, despite increased presence of National Guard and police on the subway.
“It was great when it actually happened,” she said, “but it didn’t last. It was a great initiative, but it doesn’t replace the need for local police officers to actually staff police departments.”
“I’ve never felt threatened before. This is something new.”
For 25 years, Pals and her musical saw have been a familiar sight and sound to leather hanger enthusiasts.
A self-described “Saw Woman,” she enjoys busking on the subway as one of 350 certified performers for the MTA’s Music Under New York program, but she’s also appeared in orchestras and films, providing the chilling music to Robert Durst’s grisly murder confession in season one of HBO’s “The Jinx.”
But Pals said the subway has felt increasingly unsafe since 2021, when performers returned to the city after a 14-month hiatus due to COVID-19.
Repeated clashes with threatening weirdos, including a bucket drummer who beat her up and threatened to destroy her equipment, recently forced her to stop playing at Times Square Station altogether.
“The situation there right now is awful: crazy people, homeless and no police at all,” she said.
“It concerns me because we don’t want the Union Square subway station to become as rundown as Times Square.”
Palouse said she wasn’t concerned when a man stole her CDs in Union Square this week, but her fears spiked after the robbery, which was caught on video on Tuesday.
She worries that even if the perpetrator is caught, he or she will be released without bail, like the woman who hit her friend, a subway cellist, over the head with a metal water bottle.
“What’s the point of police catching criminals if there’s no deterrent,” she said.
The NYPD confirmed that Pals had filed a report about the theft. Police sources said the amount stolen was $2. Pals said that was cash he put in a tip box before starting his performance, and that he didn’t know how much more the thief took.
According to NYPD data, traffic crimes citywide this year are down 5.5% compared to the same period in 2023. This week, they’re up about 18% compared to the same week last year.
— Additional reporting by Joe Marino
