USA-NEW YORK/TIMES SQUARE-TOPLESS NY NYC Mayor to crackdown on Times Square characters and topless women; tourists have mixed feelings

Record ID: 143069

  • Title: USA-NEW YORK/TIMES SQUARE-TOPLESS NY NYC Mayor to crackdown on Times Square characters and topless women; tourists have mixed feelings
  • Date: 22nd August 2015
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 21, 2015) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) THE NAKED COWBOY, AKA ROBERT BURCK, SAYING: "Obviously, naturally, if there's naked girls with their boobs out...But then again, it's the same with me. It's a shock. But that's why you're coming to Times Square. You want to see some crazy stuff. It's gotta be that. People come here to see t
  • Embargoed: 6th September 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA138G7YGGV5D0U3MIV9RW42X6R
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS NUDITY
    New York City created a task force to examine how it can rein in topless women and costumed cartoon and superhero characters who officials believe are aggressively soliciting tips after posing for tourists' pictures in Times Square.
    "I don't like it, I don't think it helps the environment there and we're going to do something about. You now know there's a task force that has been created. This will move very quickly, I expect a report back with very tangible actions," Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
    Convened by the mayor and co-chaired by New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton and Planning Commissioner Carl Weisbrod, the task force will report its findings by Oct. 1.
    "We're going to do this right because we want it to stick. But there will be new types of enforcement in Times Square based on the work of this task force," de Blasio added.
    Times Square, with its Broadway theaters, huge video billboards, hawkers and tourists, has cleaned up its image in the past 20 years and turned itself into a hub for media and banking.
    That is a far cry from the 1970s when the city was practically broke and Times Square was synonymous with crime, peep shows, prostitution and drugs.
    While the arrival of topless women painted red, white and blue seeking tips is relatively new, costumed characters such as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Iron Man, Thor and Hello Kitty have sidled up to tourists in Times Square for years for pictures and a quick buck.
    A man who dresses up as Mickey Mouse part time, said he works eight hours a day and resents being labeled as aggressive.
    "In the end ... I can have a small tip please? And they say, oh maybe $1 for four guys. What can you do with $1. Or maybe they have a quarter or something. They think, people think that we're toys. We're not toys. Everybody work for food, for meals, for your son, for your daughter, for clothes, you know."
    The Mickey Mouse character added that he pays taxes on his wages, which he estimates at about $60 per eight hour day.
    The characters appear to share some of the money for photographs, when they pose together.
    New Yorker Jeff Levels said he doesn't see anything wrong with what the performers are doing.
    "I think it's okay. As you can see if you don't want to be bothered by someone you just keep walking."
    British tourist Marion Legeais says it's a novelty for some to have their picture taken with recognizable characters.
    "I think it's quite cute for like little children, and I think it's all part of the New York experience."
    But for some, like Angel Rodriguez, whose child posed with a character for a photo, the experience was unpleasant. Rodriguez said he felt pressured to pay more than he wanted to.
    "In the first instance, he said one to three dollars. Then he said five dollars. So we had to pay five dollars for a picture. It's no good."
    And when it comes to the issue of nudity, for some like Angela Wrobklewski, from Wisconsin, it's a non-starter.
    "I'm a no-go for the topless women just because you should at least have a bikini top on or something."
    Reuters could not find any painted topless women walking the area on Friday (August 21) following a media storm over reports they were behaving aggressively.
    veteran guitar-strumming crooner The Naked Cowboy, whose name is Robert Burck, said he thinks a complete ban on the girls and characters would take away from the Times Square experience. He has a different proposal in mind.
    "Naturally, if there's naked girls with their boobs out ... But then again, it's the same with me. It's a shock. But that's why you're coming to Times Square. You want to see some crazy stuff ... However, the aggressive panhandling, the jumping up in their face and then demanding money, that is not legal and that doesn't need to be regulated. All that needs to happen is to arrest those people that are doing that."
    Burck says he lets tourists approach him. He has been in Times Square dressed in nothing but his underwear, cowboy hat, boots and guitar since 1998. In over 800 deals, he has licensed his image and endorsed products ranging from Google's Android operating system to Fruit of the Loom underwear, according to his agent, Todd Rubenstein. He approximated that Burck is a millionaire, several times over.
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