City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez joined members of the Times Square Alliance, a local business coalition, and a gaggle of reporters on the Times Square pedestrian plaza on Tuesday afternoon, to talk to costumed characters about legislation up for vote this week that would relegate their business to designated zones within the Times Square pedestrian plaza from 42nd to 47th streets.
"For those hundreds of Disney character workers, the message is that we're here to work with them, and they will be able to do fine," Rodriguez told reporters.
The legislation is scheduled for a vote before the Transportation Committee—of which Rodriguez is the chair—today, and the full City Council as soon as Thursday. It calls on the DOT to exact control over the city's 69 pedestrian plazas by establishing NYPD-enforced "plaza-specific rules."
The DOT has already suggested eight "activity zones" on the pedestrian plaza, each about the size of a city bus, where costumed characters, ticket sellers, and desnudas would be required to work. Designated "flow zones" would be reserved for walking.
City Council Transportation Committee Chair Ydanis Rodriguez addresses costumed characters on Tuesday, on the Times Square pedestrian plaza (Emma Whitford/Gothamist).
Rodriguez walked around the plaza for about 30 minutes on Tuesday, addressing costumed characters in Spanish and handing out his business card and a press release printed in Spanish and English. The release encouraged workers to contact the Alliance with further questions, and reiterated the Alliance's position—that the "activity zones" will deter aggressive tip solicitation, and won't put anyone out of a job.
The Alliance has recently publicized numerous tweets and testimonials about allegedly aggressive solicitation in Times Square, blaming a subset of "bad actors."
Some costumed characters and ticket sellers have countered that the proposed legislation has been drafted without their input, impedes their right to freedom of speech, and could negatively impact their business.
"It's a lie for the city to say they just want a little order," Abdel Amine Elkhezzani, a Times Square Spider-Man, told us at City Hall last week. "Do you want to see three Spider-Mans and a Hulk in a box? You want to limit... where I go, where I stand? That's not right. This is a public space."
Rodriguez told reporters that the Alliance conducted outreach with Times Square workers in the lead-up to this week's vote. The Alliance did not immediately respond to a request for comment on what that outreach entailed, beyond yesterday's press event.
A rendering of what Times Square activity zones might look like (via DOT).
Most of the costumed characters on the plaza Tuesday only spoke Spanish, and Rodriguez translated his conversations for reporters. "I am describing to them... that [I have been] for immigrant rights for many decades," Rodriguez said after one exchange in Spanish. "We don't want to hurt anyone. At the end of this process, we want to be sure that all of the workers are not negatively impacted."
Steven Clark, 43, has been dressing as Elvis in Times Square for about five years. He said on Tuesday that he learned about the legislation about a week ago. "I don't think anybody understands what's going on," he told us. "We were supposed to do a protest yesterday, but because of the rain it didn't go through. Nobody really showed up."
Clark also accused the Naked Cowboy of siding with the Alliance in order to eradicate his competition. (The Naked Cowboy endorsed the legislation at a press conference last week, predicting that it would "increase the quality of the performers.") If the legislation passes, Clark said, "I'll leave, and go out to Hollywood, California."
Lili Tolle, 19, commutes to the city from Passaic, New Jersey to pose for pictures in Times Square as Mini Mouse. Tolle said that some costumed characters demand $20 or $50 from tourists, and that the "better way" is to ask just for a tip—often $1 or $2. "No good, I don't like it," she said of the proposed legislation. "I like working in many spaces."
Asked on Tuesday how the afternoon's walkthrough might alter the legislation as drafted, Rodriguez said that it would not. "It's all about letting them know that what we're going to be voting about tomorrow is something that I am confident will be the best for them," he said.
UPDATE: The Alliance confirmed that its outreach to costumed characters and ticket sellers has consisted of distributing an informational flyer—the same one distributed Tuesday—starting a week before the March 30th Council hearing on the bill.
