Not a crime, agrees the Mayor.
By Raif Karerat
Follow @ambazaarmag
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has vowed to take action against women who pose nearly naked in body paint for photos in Times Square in exchange for cash.
de Blasio told the Daily News he understands that the women have a legal right to be there and that it’s not a crime to be naked from the waist up. But visitors have a right to pass through the Crossroads of the World without being molested by nearly naked panhandlers, he said.
“It’s wrong, it’s just wrong,” the mayor said of the painted ladies. “I don’t like the situation in Times Square.”
The mayor — who has launched a task force headed by Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and City Planning Commissioner Carl Weisbrod to determine how to ban body-paint-wearing ladies and costume characters from soliciting cash — has mooted a few ideas for ending the perceived plague of pasties and painted nipples.
According the New York Observer, he is open to ending pedestrian plazas in the busy district. It’s an idea proposed by Bratton, who believes the move would make it more difficult for “performers” to ply their trades.
The pedestrian plaza was created under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has credited it with reducing pollution, making streets safer for pedestrians, and for encouraging more commerce, according to a piece published by WYNC.
Comptroller Scott Stringer, who backed the plazas as Manhattan borough president, believes shutting them would be a “serious overreaction.”
“The introduction of the pedestrian plazas has been a positive change to the urban landscape, giving Times Square much-needed open space and improving pedestrian safety,” Stringer released in a statement. “To shut it down would be a serious overreaction to what is essentially a quality of life enforcement issue.”
Councilman Dan Garodnick, who represents half of Times Square, agreed wholeheartedly.
“The Times Square plazas have provided a safe haven for pedestrians who previously had to navigate very narrow and overcrowded sidewalks right next to fast traffic,” he said. “Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater here.”
De Blasio also said Tuesday that he likes the Daily news’ idea for ousting the topless denizens of Times Square by designating the area “parkland.”
“I thought that editorial was a helpful suggestion,” de Blasio said. “I don’t know if that’s fully attainable but we want all ideas on the table and we certainly appreciate what the Times Square Association has put forth as well. This situation is going to change. This is what I’ll guarantee you.”