But on Wednesday, Spidey and The Clown Prince Of Crime (along with friends) formed an unusual, cross-universe team to combat this new bastion of evilness:
Abdel Amine Elkhezzani, 37, has worked as Spiderman in Times Square for 10 years. He was arrested on Saturday after he allegedly got in a physical altercation with a customer over a tip, although he's disputing the allegations. "It's a lie for the city to say they just want a little order," he told us. "Do you want to see 10 Elmo's in a box? Do you want to see three Spidermans and a Hulk in a box? You want to limit... where I go, where I stand? That's not right. This is a public space."
"I came [to the Council] with a friendly clown look, and they wouldn't let me in [to the chamber] with the makeup," said Keith Albahae, 47, who testified in his Joker costume. "Let's be clear what the real problem is—the real problem is about looking different." He went on to accuse the Council of a "phony type of liberalism" and New York of becoming "the most fascist, prudish city alive."We couldn't agree more with Joseph Kerr's assessment.
The City Council's idea to force performers into certain spaces for commercial activity smells of fascism.
Are there occasional instances of Buzz Lightyear hassling families for tip money in Times Square? Sure. Is that truly reflective of all costumed workers? Or is it that they're mostly regular-mostly minority-folk struggling to make some bucks?
It's hard as hell to exist in this city on "some bucks." Still, people gotta do it.
Why punish the gander for actions by some? Hell, on that logic, why not regulate where homeless people can and can't be at? The Average New Yorker can recall a moment or two where a homeless individual aggressively harassed him or her for some change. Does that mean all homeless people act that way?
Besides, keeping these guys to small spaces constricts the final remnants of what made this city a world landmark: its grittiness.
In this glass box town, we need unhinged characters roaming TS to reinject that traditional Yawker steelo. The same one where mom and pop stores actually existed on the streets and not in our footnotes. The aesthetic that nestled Brooklyn pizzerias under bombed-out subway cars clanging on elevated track. That "Warriors" NYC.
Some of you who vividly recall that NYC are no doubt reading this and going, "Yeah, let's go back to the crime-ridden days." But why can't we have that gritty NYC without crime?
To that end-do unrestricted costumed performers bring more crime?
Or rather, perceived "nuisances (i.e. squeegee men, graffiti and bare breasts) create the idea of "more crime" to today's NY'ers? Is this legislation really preventing criminality? Or criminalizing poor immigrants with "Broken Windows" tactics to create a "Better Policing=Better Quality Of Life" facade?
We're with Batsy on this one.
Credit for picture goes to http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35928101