|
Police spokesman Paul Browne said in an email that the department has had "occasional issues with the
'faux paws' in Times Square, but they're nominal." The case against the Super Mario charged with groping is still pending. The Elmo accused of an anti-Semitic rant pleaded guilty in September to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to two days of community service. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn called the Cookie Monster case "just horrible" and said lawmakers have been looking into how to regulate the characters. But she noted the issue is, well, fuzzy. "It's very challenging legally because dressing up in a costume and walking around Times Square is, we believe, a First Amendment-protected activity," said Quinn, a candidate to be New York's next mayor. Similar cases of misbehavior by costumed performers have been reported in Hollywood. Disney did not respond to a request for comment, while the Sesame Workshop, the organization behind "Sesame Street," said it has not authorized such uses of any its characters in any city and is looking into what actions it can take. Anthony Elia, a New York lawyer in the intellectual-property field, said the entertainment groups probably have a case for trademark infringement, but "the challenge probably would be getting a bunch of self-employed entrepreneurial individuals to stop."
It's not the easiest way to make a living. On a day when temperatures pushed 80, they sweated in their outfits, coming out from under their oversized costume heads only to grab a hot dog or a smoke. When one posed for a photo, two or three others dashed over and joined in. "Want to take a picture?" a furry red Elmo asked a tourist. Moments later, he declined to speak to a reporter, saying through his costume, "I no speak English." A Minnie Mouse offered a toddler in a stroller her hand and positioned herself at the handlebar. A Super Mario rushed over to join her. "She said, 'Can you give us money?'" said the child's mother, Melanie Somogyi of Hamilton, Ontario. "And they grabbed the stroller!"
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries
Community |
Perspectives
|
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
|
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Calendar
|
Letters to the Editor