Mayor Inks Law Restricting Times SQ Characters

By DANIEL STEIN-SAYLES & LUIS GONZALEZ

Mayor Bill de Blasio signed legislation Thursday morning that gives the Department of Transportation (DOT) the authority to designate and create rules for pedestrian plazas in the City, specifically targeting Times Square and the costumed characters that roam the area and have created conflicts with pedestrians

The bill, which was passed by the City Council by a vote of 42 to 1 earlier this April will focus on conduct, litter, quality of life issues in Times Square and throughout the City’s pedestrian plazas.

“This bill, I think is going to allow people to still continue to enjoy their activities, sell their wears, perform, be tickled if they are Elmo on the plaza, but to do it in a safe way so folks aren’t harassed or harangued when they are heading through Times Square,” said Councilman Corey Johnson, who was a lead co-sponsor of the bill.

The issues this bill was created to combat stem from the topless women and costumed individuals in Times Square who drew a lot of media attention last summer. Some of the performers have been known to aggressively seek tips and get into altercations with passerby prompting concerns from the community and elected officials.

The bill was a byproduct of a task force de Blasio commissioned last year, the Times Square task force, to address stakeholders concerns about the area.

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer was pleased with the bill and the speed in which it was shepherded through the legislative process.

“To bring order to the chaos, the good chaos, but chaos in Times Square to make sure that we stay on the right side of the line between fun and frightening,” she said before pausing to recount a personal experience, which she did not elaborate on. “Actually the other day I saw something that was frightening so it is good that this is moving forward.”

A handful of community organizations spoke at the bill signing, stressing their support for the bill. Unlike the City Council hearing last month in which the legislation was discussed no performers, in costume or otherwise, spoke at the bill signing.

While the legislation targets Times Square specifically it will also apply to all of the 53 plazas across New York City and the 20 plazas that are undergoing construction or in the planning phase according to DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg.

Trottenberg also said that her department will release the proposed rules shortly after de Blasio signs the bill.

“Our City’s pedestrian plazas are vital to neighborhoods and particularly to areas that lack other open space and the City’s plaza program has transformed underused streets across our city into vibrant open spaces for the public to enjoy,” said de Blasio.

The mayor also signed 10 other pieces of legislation into law including a bill that will require black car and luxury limousine services to provide accurate fair estimates to customers and institute fines if the fare is more than 20 percent higher than the estimate provided.