Inappropriate Tickling! Elmo Dominates Times Square Alliance's Top Ten Tweets Complaining of Costumed Characters

As previously reported on BroadwayWorld, The Times Square Alliance and elected officials held a news conference this morning to detail the need for the city to regulate pedestrian plazas and to recount negative experiences with hawkers and hustlers in Times Square. Of particular concern are the actions of people dressed as popular cartoon, comic strip and puppet characters, such as Elmo, Mickey Mouse and Spider Man.

Announced participants included Councilman Dan Garodnick, Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, Times Square Alliance President Tim Tompkins and popular Times Square entertainer, the Naked Cowboy.

The New York City Council recently introduced legislation to give the NYC Department of Transportation the authority to manage and regulate pedestrian plazas throughout New York City. The bill, Intro 1109, will be the subject of a City Council public hearing on March 30th.

In a recent survey, 61% of Times Square employees reported experiencing a negative encounter with a costumed character or commercial solicitor, with 51% of those respondents saying that interaction made them feel unsafe.

Documenting this inappropriate behavior is "The Times Square Alliance's Top Ten Tweets Of 2016 Detailing Disturbing Incidents Involving Verbal Abuse and Inappropriate Touching."

Visit timessquarenyc.org.