TIMES SQUARE — A Times Square Spider-Man was arrested for throwing folding chairs into a crowded pedestrian plaza, police said.
Junior Bishop, who was arrested for punching a police officer back in 2014, was standing near West 43rd Street and Broadway around 7:25 p.m. on March 17 when he tossed three chairs into the plaza area where many costumed characters take photos with tourists for tips, the NYPD said.
The chairs landed near a group of people, and Bishop, 26, was arrested soon after, police said.
Bishop also kicked over a folding table while he was in custody, they added. He was charged with reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct, the NYPD said.
The New York Post reported Bishop threw the chairs after he got angry while taking photos for tips with Times Square passersby.
Police said it was the ninth time he had been arrested since 2011, although they could not provide information about the circumstances surrounding the prior arrests.
In 2014, Bishop was arrested for punching a police officer who intervened when the performer demanded payment of more than $1 from a woman who took a photo with him.
Bishop told the officer to “mind your own f----ng business,” police said.
And in November, Bishop was arrested while dressed as The Incredible Hulk for shouting “obscenities” at a police officer who told tourists that tipping costumed characters was optional and asked to see his ID, the Post reported.
Bishop’s most recent arrest came a little more than a week after City Councilmembers introduced a bill aiming to regulate the activity of costumed characters and other performers working for tips in Times Square.
Some Times Square performers maintain that those who have been arrested are damaging the reputation of other costumed characters who are following the rules and simply trying to make a living working for tips.
