Andrew Cuomo Wants Nearly-Naked Topless Performers Out of Times Square

There’s a scourge of topless women plaguing Time Square. The formerly very-un-family-friendly and then very-family-friendly area of New York where tourists flock to see billboards and eat at The Olive Garden has been overrun with with bare-chested painted ladies, and neither NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio or Governor Andrew Cuomo are having any of it.

According to The New York Daily News, upon which Cuomo is heaping praise for upholding journalistic standards and continuing to “hammer” at an issue the publication cares about, Cuomo is worried that if the topless performers are allowed to continue harassing tourists that Times Square will revert back to the wonderland of “peep shows and hookers” that it was before it got sanitized and turned into a Disney extravaganza.

From NYDN:

“I’m old enough to remember that history can be instructive,” Cuomo said in an interview with NY1. “I was around for the bad old Times Square and this is starting to remind me of the bad old Times Square.”

Cuomo’s also worried about the cartoon characters in Times Square. Not only does he see them as a nuisance and another source of harassment, but he’s stated that he sees what’s happening in Times Square as an affront to the entire city of New York, for which Times Square serves as a major symbol.

NYDN, which has, honestly, covered this issue like they’re gunning for a Pulitzer, has suggested designating Times Square as parkland, which would outlaw street performers asking for money. Both Cuomo and de Blasio have accepted the suggestion as “helpful” and will continue to do everything they can to keep bare-chested women, assaultive Cookie Monsters, and fighting Sanrio characters out of the area.