Page 7 - ARUBA TODAY
P. 7
U.S. NEWS A7
Monday 12 October 2015
Topless women of Times Square say they can’t be restricted
VERENA DOBNIK A tourist poses for a photo with two women clad in thongs and body paint in New York’s Times and public safety reasons,
Associated Press Square. Topless women posing for photos in Times Square are causing headaches for politicians they would have to be in
NEW YORK (AP) — In the and law enforcement who wish to regulate their presence but have no clear idea how. designated areas,” he said.
heart of Times Square, a Still, he acknowledges he
grinning 2-year-old boy is (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) expects any plan to face
flanked by a pair of strik- litigation.
ingly posed, topless wom- to me, period.” est squares in New York City cover up. Tompkins cast Legal experts say the
en, wearing only red, white The presence of the topless that women should display the issue as aggressive so- quandary is whether the
and blue paint over their women over the past year themselves that way,” May- licitation for money, not as women’s activity amounts
breasts, thongs, feath- has shaken the Crossroads or Bill de Blasio said recent- toplessness in itself. to a street performance
ery headdresses and high of the World in ways that ly, acknowledging he’d Others see the problem as protected by the U.S. Con-
heels. the similarly photo-hawking given serious consideration congestion, not indiscre- stitution’s First Amendment
Click. His mom takes a pic- costumed characters who to a short-lived idea of ad- tion. City Councilman Co- which guarantees freedom
ture for the family album came before — Elmos, Spi- dressing the problem by rey Johnson, a member of of speech or a form of com-
and hands the women a der-Men and SpongeBobs ripping out Times Square’s a hastily convened city task merce that can be regulat-
dollar bill. — never did. It reached a popular pedestrian plazas force that has proposed ed. Civil rights attorney Ron
It’s one of dozens of inter- peak this summer with re- entirely. the “activity zones,” says Kuby noted that there’s
actions that take place ev- ports of some of the wom- Tim Tompkins, president of the city must ease pedes- nothing illegal in New York
ery day with a growing le- en aggressively accosting the influential Times Square trian crowding by setting City about going topless or
gion of bare-chested ladies passers-by, grabbing their Alliance business group, some restrictions — wheth- asking people for money.
who seek tips by posing arms and urging them to told a WNYC radio inter- er on topless women, cos- As many as a dozen top-
with passing men, women stop and pose. viewer this summer that tumed characters or tourist less women were counted
and, yes, children. Facing “I would say, as a human “one of these naked la- bus rides. roaming Times Square at
what they see as a cringe- being and a parent, I don’t dies literally made a wom- “We’re not saying these any one time this summer,
worthy crisis after decades think it’s appropriate in the an cry” by threatening to people can’t be in Times often making tips of $10 to
of scrubbing Times Square’s middle of one of the busi- punch her when asked to Square, but for congestion $20 per photo — more than
once-sleazy image, some the costumed characters
city officials are now pro- appeared to pull in.
posing to confine both the “Batman hates us,” said
topless women and the 23-year-old Amanda Ro-
costumed characters work- man. Like the other paint-
ing alongside them to des- ed ladies, she refused to
ignated “activity zones.” discuss how much money
But several of the painted they make daily.
ladies who spoke can- The women appear equal-
didly with The Associated ly split between Americans
Press this past week made and immigrants from Latin
it clear that, restrictions or America who call them-
not, they’re not going any- selves “desnudas” — Span-
where. ish for “naked women.”
“They can’t do anything Some say they got the job
unless they change the after answering online ads
Constitution,” insisted Saira for “body paint models.”
Nicole, 29, who works the Their bare chests are thickly
square as part of a topless painted with patriotic col-
trio. She said she’d defy ors, brushed on outdoors in
any move to relegate the the square by male man-
women to a specific zone. agers who hold onto the
“You’re not putting a stop women’s cash. q
