Reason why I love New York (Number 229)

There are 88 of them, in vibrant colors, plunked down
in Times Square, on Fifth Avenue, in Central Park, the Far Rockways. 
They are rehabbed pianos, out and about for anyone to play.

The program, "Sing for Hope Pianos," was started by Camille Zahora
and Monica Yunus to bring art - first song and then piano music - to
ordinary folk, as many people as possible. According to stories in
The Times and The Huffington Post, placing 88 pianos in locales
all over New York is no easy task. Artists, famous and not so famous,
paint the donated pianos. People sign up to be piano buddies and at the first
threat of a raindrop, cover their assigned piano with a tarp.

For two weeks, the pianos dot the city landscape and people
stop to play, on their way to a hot dog on the Coney Island boardwalk
and all along Manhattan's busy streets.

On this morning, as we happened by a piano next to the library on Fifth Avenue,
we were treated to a lovely impromptu bit of classical piano by a young girl.
Her father stood by, took pictures and smiled. Passersby paused,
construction workers looked up from their work and a
curious little boy leaned in for a listen.

The pianos are around for just a couple of weeks in the summer and
then each one is donated to community groups and hospitals, wherever
someone might need a song.

http://www.singforhope.org/

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/arts/music/the-sing-for-hope-pianos-project.html?pagewanted=al

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/13/sing-for-hope-pianos-nyc-outdoor-2013-summer_n_2679135.html