Finding His Fortune in Stones
As you walk across Union Square Park, you can’t miss Angel Silva and his colorful stall of peculiarly colored stones and statues of deities from different parts of the world. Silva has been a permanent fixture at that spot since 2005, selling healing crystals, statues and offering free healings to those who believe.
At $2–3 for each stone and up to $12 for a small statue, he earns about $100 a day. He sources big blocks of stones from around the world. He cuts, polishes and sometimes paints them by hand and then sets them out on a bright red cloth on a table to be sold.
Born to a Puerto Rican father and an African priest mother, in the Bronx, spirituality was a way of life that he grew up with. He currently practices Bwiti- a spiritual discipline from Garbon, a small state in Central Africa, and Congonese black magic called Palo Mayombe.
Silva’s fascination for stones and healing began at an early age. His parents moved to Puerto Rico when he was a child, because his enchantment with stones that he used to wear around his neck everyday, was making it harder for him to get accepted among his peers at school.
Silva said that he joined the University of Puerto Rico as a student of civil engineering but dropped out because he was being forced to get drafted into the Army. He returned to the US to pursue his passion for healing.
After many years of training from his Babalao, or priest, Pancho Mora, ten years ago, he left his job as a licensed plumber for the State of New York that paid $42 an hour and would have given him the cushion of an insurance and pension. He whipped out the fading license, “I just couldn’t wake up every morning to do that job. I was happier here on the street, healing,” he said.
Union Square Park is not just a great location in terms of tourists and students but it is also close to many hospitals and medical centers. Silva admitted he gets a lot of customers from these medical establishments.
What is interesting is that he boasts of a strong clientele among chiropractors. “My stones go well with what they practice,” he said.
Silva had a customer and at least four separate groups of potential customers who looked at his wares as we spoke. There was a lady who inquired about the properties of two pretty looking stones and even showed him a picture of a stone she wanted to buy.
People have different reasons to buy these stones that range from depression, success in business venture and all the way to infertility Silva said.
But the ‘Crystal Man’ became famous for his run in with the law. He was arrested by the NYPD for selling goods without a vendor’s license.
“I’ve been harassed and arrested by cops. I’ve had in and out with the law. But even if they arrest me a hundred times, I’ll keep coming back,” he said.
After years of arrests and litigation, Silva can now breathe easy. He says the City of New York has finally conceded that his stones, that he cuts and paints peace signs on himself, are pieces of art and he can sell them without a vendor’s license.
In fact, to spend more time with his stones he moved from an apartment in Astoria, Queens. He now lives on a boat off the City Island. Silva claims not only is it cheaper than renting an apartment, but he can also work without being disturbed.
He said the boat belonged to his father from the time that his family was in Puerto Rico and he now only has to pay for mooring and maintenance which is not a significant amount compared to rent in the city.
