Meeting a superhero will make anyone giddy. That is, until said superhero tries to cop a feel or demands a tip for getting a picture taken with them.
The New York Police Department recently put up bright red signs and distributed leaflets to people in Times Square, advising New Yorkers and visitors to the city that tipping costumed characters is optional. Elmo, Spider-Man and Hello Kitty are, of course, not pleased but the NYPD is not yielding. A police officer has also been allegedly punched by one Spider-Man for telling a woman that a tip was unnecessary.
Harassment complaints have been piling up so the NYPD took action by launching a public information campaign against the costumed characters of Times Square. Police Commissioner Bill Bratton is also backing a proposal that will require Elmo, Spider-Man, Hello Kitty and all their costumed friends to register with the city.
This is actually fine with the costumed characters because many of them say they are only taking to Times Square to earn money honestly for their families. "We are here out of necessity, We need to unite so people can see that this is our legitimate way of supporting our families," said Claudia Arias, Catwoman.
Around 50 of Times Square's costumed characters met with representatives of La Fuente, an immigrant advocacy group, Tuesday to discuss matters involving better treatment and, possibly, the first step towards the longer term goal of creating a labor group to represent them, much like those that represent freelancers or taxi drivers. Many of the costumed characters setting up shop in Times Square are Hispanic immigrants.
"We're people who want to be treated as workers with dignity and not be treated as cartoon characters just because we wear a mask. One of the things that we want to see is that the cops trust us a little bit more. We want to get the rules from them and get the idea of proper procedure," explained Yamil Morales, one of the organizers for the Association of Artists United for a Smile. The group chose that name to reflect the claim that the happiness of a tourist is no less important compared to the tip that they might give.
La Fuente understands that there are some costumed characters at fault which prompted NYPD to spring into action, but there are more who are legitimately interested in doing the right thing. "One or two bad apples have made the whole bunch look bad," remarks Alex Gomez, La Fuente's communications director.
