Times Square performers to be in zones; 3 arrested over tips

Authorities say a man and a woman from Iowa took photos with the Anna character, who took $10 as a tip.

The city will designate eight of these “activity zones” – marked in blue – for performers and ticket-sellers.

They say the out-of-towners also gave $10 to Iron Man and $10 to the Hulk, who refused to give them change. “They’re constitutionally protected to perform out here, but there are rules, there are guidelines”.

Until then, all eyes at the Crossroads of the World were on the new color-coded zones that tell performers and panhandlers where they can and cannot go.

But attorney Linda Steinman, representing the Times Square Alliance business group, said the new rules are consistent with case law permitting restrictions on the time, place and manner of speech.

Times Square Alliance president Tim Tompkins said that in the past a lot of tourists did not realise a tip was expected and the performers were often “aggressive about insisting on a tip”.

But tourists and other pedestrians have long complained about those who hustle in Times Square, calling the costumed characters a menace.

The city has started painting teal rectangles in pedestrian plazas in Times Square to confine the costumed Elmos and Spider-Men who pose for photos and solicit tips from tourists.

According to the Times Square Alliance, a backer of the initiative and a non-profit working to improve and promote Times Square, 61 percent of Times Square employees reported having a negative encounter with costumed characters, and 51 percent of those people said the interaction made them feel unsafe. The NYPD will begin enforcement of the new rules starting June 21.

Cruz said the regulations were necessary to counter some of the violence happened before, and believed that although her movement would be limited, she won’t make less money after the zoning plan gets enforced.