Larry, busking's perfectly legal in Portsmouth NH too. A few times, a couple of summers ago, we got done with the Fri session but nobody wanted to quit playing. We went to Market Square and set up on a corner. There was a cop across the street and I kept thinking he'd tell us to move because we were interfering with pedestrian traffic just a little bit. Nope - just sat. Who knows - maybe he liked the music as well. My (completely unfounded) feeling is that busking is somewhat encouraged rather than simply tolerated.

As much as I complain about the tourists, they bring money. They also see the wonder in things locals may take for granted.