That Was Not Rod Stewart Sleeping On The Subway

Apparently he wasn't seen on a downtown train. Word is now coming down that the man recently spotted sleeping on the New York subway was not Rod Stewart, but rather a dude who has became infamous for pretending to be him.

The New York Post's Page Six column reached out to Stewart's manager, Arnold Stiefel, who said, "The real Rod has seen the [subway] picture, and he thought it was funny, but he said, ‘Please let people know it isn’t me.'" Apparently they've been aware of this for a while, because Stiefel added, "This has been going on for years."

The article notes that the man, whose real name is unknown but has been dubbed "Rockaway Rod," has been impersonating the singer throughout the city in the hopes of getting free meals and drinks. It worked this summer at a trendy downtown restaurant, where he crashed a viewing party for the World Cup semifinal between Germany and Brazil.

And given that some have described Stewart as frugal -- his buddy Ron Wood has joked that he is as "tight as two coats of paint," which Stewart doesn't deny -- the imposter's scam could even be seen as being somewhat in character.