Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Spider-Man, Penguin Arrested for Demanding Cash from Times Square Tourists

By Maya Rajamani | April 22, 2016 3:00pm | Updated on April 25, 2016 8:55am
 Spider-Man and The Penguin were arrested for aggressive panhandling in Times Square on April 21, police said.
Spider-Man and The Penguin were arrested for aggressive panhandling in Times Square on April 21, police said.
View Full Caption
Twitter/TimesSquareNYC

TIMES SQUARE — Two men dressed as Spider-Man and The Penguin were arrested after demanding money from tourists who’d already forked over cash for a photo with them, police said.

Spider-Man Oscar Rodriguez, 32, and The Penguin Yamil Morales, 39, took a photo with a male and female tourist near West 45th Street and Seventh Avenue around 1 p.m. on Thursday, receiving a tip from the pair, the NYPD said.

After accepting the cash, the two men started “aggressively” asking the visitors for more than what they’d gotten, police said.

Police officers who saw the group arguing responded to the scene, the New York Post first reported.

Rodriguez and Morales were both arrested for aggressive panhandling, the NYPD said.

They were awaiting arraignment as of Friday morning, police said.

Attorneys for the two men could not be reached for comment.

Their arrests happened on the same day Mayor Bill de Blasio signed off on legislation that will allow the city’s Department of Transportation to regulate pedestrian plazas throughout the city — including those in Times Square.

Costumed characters could find their activity restricted to designated zones within the plazas when the DOT implements its new rules.