The Costume Is Always Wrong

I went to Grand Central Terminal in New York City today, where there was a train show; numerous historic railroad cars and several model railroad layouts were on display, along with historic subway cars you could ride (and I did) on the Times Square-Grand Central subway shuttle.  I had a very good time. Had it not been for a stop at Times Square on my way back to the Port Authority Bus Terminal on foot, where I tried to take some pictures, I would have had a great time.

Let me explain. While I was in Times Square, I saw numerous costumed characters milling about. Many people have been dressing up as Mickey Mouse, the Cookie Monster, and other characters and trying to get money for photos with tourists. Without any real street performers to photograph, I tried to get candid shots of them walking around. It was certainly not my intention to have my picture taken with any of them. Well, the next thing I know, a Spider-Man came up to me and urged me to pose with him and his friends. I tried to resist, but sure enough, he'd managed to pull my digital camera out of my hands and have a Super Mario take a picture with me, him and a Hello Kitty, and I think Hello Kitty was coming on to me. I got my camera back alright, and then I gave Spider-Man a dollar for the three photos he'd taken.  I hoped to avoid giving any more money to them and insisting I didn't have any more singles (actually, I did), but Hello Kitty insisted she had change and Super Mario would not let me go (Bismillah - NO! We will not let you go!) until I forked over another two bucks, a dollar for each of them. So at the end of the ordeal, I was three dollars poorer and had three photos on my camera that I didn't want. I don't recall ever looking so stiff and uncomfortable as I did in these photos. Eee- ewwwwwwwwwww!!

Did I keep the pictures? No, of course not!

It turns out that most people in Times Square have had problems with these costumed characters imposing themselves on them, shaking them down for pictures with them, and intimidating them with their overbearing demeanor. A Cookie Monster pushed a little boy. An Elmo went on an anti-Semitic rant. A Super Mario groped a woman, while a Spider-Man punched another woman in the face. The Disney-style sanitizing of Times Square in the 1990s was welcome, making the district a place to feel safe in again, but these non-entertainers dressed as wholesome children's characters are bringing back the seediness of the Times Square from the 1970s. For the first time in over twenty years, I left there today feeling rather unclean. Getting shaken down by Hello Kitty and her buddies was the creepiest thing that's ever happened to me in New York.  These people aren't buskers, they're bandits.  Masked bandits.

Oh yeah, I saw the well-known New York musical saw player Natalia Paruz, a real street performer, play at the train show in Grand Central. She's a very nice woman who is genuinely loved by everyone who's ever heard her music in the subway. She's also a casual friend of mine, and I was happy to see her perform again after such a long time. We need more performers like her and fewer people like the ones at Times Square. Thanks for brightening my day, Natalia. :-)