Despite a drop in costumed character arrests in Times Square over the past year, police have reported a rise in complaints, and a majority of visitors to the Crossroads of the World say they’ve had negative interactions with the characters, according to advocates and reports.
In late 2016, the city created designated commercial activity zones—for performers, costumed characters, and other solicitors—in Times Square pedestrian plazas. Yet, complaints have surged regardless of the new enforcement.
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Police officials say the arrests and complaints are for offenses ranging from aggressive panhandling to assault and grand larceny.
The year before the zones were installed, from June 2015 to June 2016, police reported 36 costumed character arrests, according to DNAinfo, which cited the NYPD.
By comparison, within the past year, between June 2016 and June 2017, the number of costumed character arrests dropped to just eight, the NYPD told DNAinfo. However, within the same time frame, police issued a total of 271 summonses for commercial activity zones, DNAinfo reported.
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Earlier this year, the Times Square Alliance surveyed 215 people, including Times Square-based employees, businesses, property owners, residents, and passersby.
According to a spokesperson for the Alliance, the survey results found that 51 percent of the 215 reported “having an unpleasant interaction or negative experience with a costumed character or solicitor” despite the presence of the activity zones.
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By comparison, the Alliance conducted a similar survey the year prior, in the fall of 2015 before the commercial activity zones existed, where only 26 percent of 3,930 surveyed reported “unpleasant” interactions with solicitors in the area.
Alliance president Tim Tompkins tried to reason why complaints may have risen since the zones were installed.
“While behaviors are better, you still have some folks…especially the CD sellers…stray[ing] 10, 15, 20 feet from the designated activity zones,” Tomkins told DNAinfo.
Police said that solicitors and performers who stray outside the marked zones will typically receive summonses for their behavior. However, many costumed characters lament the new restrictions to do their business.
“It was better [before the zones] because we could walk all over,” a 26-year-old Super Mario impersonator told DNAinfo. He is to appear in court next month for allegedly taking a photo with a tourist outside one of the zones. He says he must support his family in Peru with the money he makes in Times Square.
