Touching By Costumed Characters Rampant In Times Square: Report

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Costumed characters in Times Square touch people without their consent at least 24 times an hour, according to a new report released by the nonprofit in charge of maintenance and programming at the tourist hotspot.

The Times Square Alliance released its report in the days following a much-publicized arrest of an Elmo impersonator who was accused of groping a 14-year-old as she posed with her family for a photo. The report includes a survey that found one in five New Yorkers have been touched by a costumed entertainer in Times Square without giving consent. For out-of-towners, that number dropped down to 15 percent. Nearly half of New Yorkers have had a self-described "unpleasant interaction" with the characters, according to the survey.

Scattered throughout the Times Square Alliance's report are quotes from people surveyed that detail horror stories of unwanted grabs and gropes at the hands of men and women dressed as Elmo, Iron Man and Minnie Mouse.

"Elmo character tried to touch my breast during photo op then became very agitated and hostile because I did not offer him money right away," a 68-year-old named Joni said according to the report.

Other respondents said that costume characters ignored parents who told them not to touch their children, pushed their bodies against people who don't want to take photos and attempted to sit on the lap of a person using a wheelchair.

The alliance dispatched spot checkers to the Times Square plaza between 46th and 47th streets in May and June and found that on average, 24 people were touched without consent every hour. The alliance extrapolated the findings to estimate that in Times Square's three pedestrian plazas somewhere between 120,000 to 160,000 people are touched without their consent each year.

Innocente Andrade-Pacheco, of Passaic, New Jersey, was arrested Sunday and charged with forcible touching after grabbing a 14-year-old girl's buttocks in Times Square, police said. The girl's family approached Andrade-Pacheco for a photo, and while posing the man moved his hand down the girl's back, police said.

New York City attempted to regulate Times Square impersonators in 2016 by establishing designated "activity zones" where costumed characters and other entertainers must confine themselves. The decision to regulate the activity was made after complaints of negative interactions between tourists and the entertainers.

The Times Square Alliance claims that entertainers aren't fully complying with the regulations because they are still venturing outside of the zones to solicit photographs and guide people toward the zones.