|
 Dozens of people dressed as Spider-Man, Batman, Elmo, Mickey Mouse
and other children's favorites, roam the crowded sidewalks and
pedestrian plazas around Times Square each day, beckoning toward
passing kids and their camera-toting parents.
But city officials from the mayor down have painted them as pests
who harass the city's visitors. Police have arrested several
performers in recent months, and began handing out flyers at the
weekend telling tourists to call the 911 emergency number with any
complaints about the characters.
The new association - a sort of cross between an informal union and
The Justice League - wants to fight back against that image,
according to Yamil Morales, one of the group's organizers.
 "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,"
Morales said in Spanish, speaking through an interpreter. A large
number of the performers are immigrants from Latin America.
They are calling themselves the Association of Artists United for a
Smile, a name chosen to reflect their claim that a tourist's
happiness is no less important than any tip he or she might give.
Morales, a Colombian living in New York City who spends 40 minutes
each day getting dressed up as the Penguin, says he came up with the
idea along with a Batman.
More than 100 characters have since joined, he said, and dozens of
them met early on Tuesday at the offices of La Fuente, an advocacy
group for immigrant workers.
[to top of second column] |
"One of the things that we want to see is that the cops trust us a
little bit more," Morales said, explaining that a meeting with
police officials was at the top of the characters' agenda. "We want
to get the rules from them and get the idea of proper procedure."
The police department did not respond to a request for comment.
Alex Gomez, the communications director for La Fuente who
interpreted for Morales, said the characters had been unfairly
vilified in the wake of recent arrests, including a Spider-Man
charged with punching a police officer who intervened in a tipping
dispute last month.
"One or two bad apples have made the whole bunch look bad," he said.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen, editing by G Crosse)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
