Tourists: Don't change Times Square

Three women in bikinis and some costumed characters sought tips-for-photos in Times Square on Monday. Hezi Jiang / China Daily

Women with painted breasts and wearing little else but thongs, along with costumed characters such as Elmo, Cookie Monster and Spider Man, parading in New York City's Times Square for tips are causing headaches for the Big Apple's mayor.

And a suggestion last week by Mayor Bill de Blasio to deal with it all created a firestorm of reaction: bulldoze the two plazas in the square where the painted ladies and costumed characters seek cash for photos and return the spaces to being roadways.

He floated the suggestion on Aug 20 after his police commissioner, Bill Bratton, said in a radio interview earlier that day about the panhandling in the plazas: "I'd prefer to just dig the whole darn thing up and put it back the way it was where Broadway is Broadway and not a dead-end street."

The mayor said he was "unhappy" with what's happening in Times Square in relation to the painted women. "I don't like it," he said, "and I'm going to do something about it."

The two plazas were built under de Blasio's predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, at a cost of $27 million.

In the immediate days after de Blasio's comments, the painted ladies were not in the square, choosing to stay out of the media spotlight. On Monday, three women dressed in red, white and blue bikinis took their place, seeking tips from people who wanted pictures taken with them, as did the usual gang of costumed characters.

Should the plazas be replaced with roadways? None of about 20 tourists interviewed by China Daily reporters over the weekend and on Monday in the plazas said they want things to change.

Ye Yubing, who has been in New York for more than two years, brought her 17-year-old niece Ren Ruilei to Time Square on Monday, for her first visit to New York. She called the place "dazzling" and said if it is reopened for traffic "it will be a pity for us."

Andrew Oliveira from Brazil, who said he is working in a restaurant while studying English at the City University of New York, took a video on Monday with costumed characters from the Frozen, and Toy Story. The video is a gift for his 6-year-old daughter in Brazil. He said that he paid the characters $10, and didn't think it was expensive. "For my daughter, it's doesn't have a price," he added.

"The city needs to think twice about the plan. Every city needs a center to present its soul and spirit, as they draw people together," said Sun Lei from Beijing, who said he visited Times Square 10 years ago, and this time he brought his wife and daughter for their first visit.

"Times Square is very famous. No matter what it is like, I love to come and have a look. Surely, it is more interesting to see those characters and topless," said Sarah Ng, 17, from Hong Kong, who said she was on her first visit to New York.

Alice Yeh, 30, from Taiwan and in the city for three weeks, said the costumed characters can be a little annoying sometimes when they want to hug, "but children love them and they make the place unique." She said changing the plaza back to a roadway would "be a loss for both New York and travelers."

Erica Wolter, 41, a dentist from Brazil, said that she had lived in the city for a couple of years, then returned to Brazil, and now is coming back to the city.

When asked about removing all the panhandlers, she said: "No way. This is all the magic. The theaters. The characters. Times Square bring the dreams together. I used to do mime here!"

Cory Nigrin, 18, from Baltimore, Maryland, and his father and younger brother took a photo with Spiderman, Cat Woman, and another character, Mario.

"I like the characters," he said. "My father paid each of them a couple of bucks, and we didn't mind." As for the possibility that the plazas would be torn up, he said, "The mayor is out of his mind."

Contact the writers through hezijiang@chinadailyusa.com and lijing@chinadaily.com.cn