‘Costumed creeps’
"Some are a little pushy but most of them are nice. They're out here making a living like everybody else," says 62 year old Kentucky resident Dave Duke, who took a photo of his wife with a costumed Statue of Liberty.
The entertainers say making money has become more difficult following several harassment and groping allegations that sparked articles in local tabloids about "costumed creeps."
In September, a man in an Elmo costume was arrested after being accused of groping a 14 year old girl.
"Because of this the police came to bother us. They're hardly letting us work," says Maria, who does a second job in the evenings in order to care for her children aged two and ten.
Jose from Mexico, a different Elmo to the one arrested, says one or two of the hucksters are spoiling it for everyone else.
"Children used to run to me but now they see headlines about Elmo being a child molester and they don't," he explains, declining to give his surname.
Nearby, Robert Burck is having a better time of it, belting out tunes on his guitar while wearing only underpants, a cowboy hat and cowboy boots.
The 48 year old known as the ‘Naked Cowboy’ has been a regular fixture in Times Square for 20 years and says he makes around US$150,000 a year in tips.
"I absolutely love the fact that I'm working in a den of thieves," he jokes to AFP, as CD sellers and ticket touts hustle with tourists.
Renamed Times Square from Longacre Square in 1904 after The New York Times newspaper moved its headquarters there, the area has had its problems over the years.
For chunks of the 20th century, it was a hotbed of vice where illegal drugs and prostitution flourished and entertainment centred on lewd shows.
The area, heavily policed like much of New York due to fears it could be a target of terror attacks, is much less seedy today.
‘Crazy’
Up to 450,000 people are estimated to cross Times Square every day but some New Yorkers try to find a way around it if they can.
Under discussions such as ‘Why do New Yorkers dislike Times Square?’ on Quora, locals cite crowds, overpriced restaurants, stores selling tourist tat, and the costumed characters.
The Times Square Alliance, a nonprofit that supports local businesses, wants to improve the famous intersection further by reining in the mascots.
It dislikes their pack-like modus operandi where one puts an arm around an unwitting tourist before others rush over to be in the photo and demand money.
"Times Square is always a little bit crazy. It's all about capitalism," Alliance president Tim Tompkins tells AFP at the Square's northern tip between Broadway and Seventh Avenue.
"But what we're objecting to here is that sometimes it's not voluntary," he adds.
Since 2016, the characters' commercial activities have been restricted to specific zones but some roam outside the marked areas.
The Alliance believes better regulation of the costumed characters by city authorities would make Times Square even more family friendly.
"We're trying to make the experience the best for people who have the opportunity to visit here," says Tompkins.
Times Square is nicknamed ‘ The Crossroads of the World’. There, Bega finds that she is at a crossroads of her own.
"The work is not sustainable. I don't know if I can continue like this," she says, before running off to join her friend dressed as Winnie the Pooh.