Some folks like to get away, take a holiday from the neighborhood.
But these lucky folks didn’t hop a flight to Miami Beach or take a Greyhound on the Hudson River Line, they sat in the back of a Manhattan pedicab that just so happened to be playing the song “New York State of Mind.”
And then Billy Joel pulled up alongside them.
The “Piano Man” posted video of the only-in-New-York encounter on social media Monday.
“We’re in a New York State of Mind…always,” he wrote in the caption.
The video, shot from the back seat of an SUV, shows Joel rolling down his window to greet the pedicab driver and his two passengers.
Once the driver realized it was the singer of the song blaring from his speakers, he reached out to shake his hand.
“You see we are playing you, man,” the driver said.
New Yorkers have seen all the movie stars in their fancy cars and their limousines, but Joel pulling up as his song was too good to be true even in the city that never sleeps.
“We love you,” one of the female passengers told Joel. “How are you feeling?”
Joel — who is recovering from a brain disorder known as normal pressure hydrocephalus — and his wife Alexis then posed for a selfie with the driver.
“Thank you very much again for stopping and making our day,” the driver commented on Joel’s post. “It’s my customers birthday today & she said she had the best birthday ever.”
All thanks to the guy in the right lane.
The video was posted the same day Joel made his first public comments since announcing he had been diagnosed with the rare disorder — which led to problems with his hearing, vision and balance.
Joel, during an interview on Bill Maher’s “Club Random” podcast that was released Monday, reassured fans that he doesn’t need you to worry for him ’cause he’s alright.
“I feel fine,” Joel told Maher. “My balance sucks. It’s like being a boat.”
Joel looked just fine while cruising around New York. And he may have to consider adding a new mode of transportation to the lyrics of his song about the city.
“If you ever want a pedicab ride,” the driver commented, “just say when & I’ll make my limousine ready.”
