New York Times Square

Painted, near-naked ladies on the prowl for cash in exchange for pictures in Times Square angering tourists

An out-of-control influx of near-naked women jockeying for tips has turned Times Square into the XXX-Roads of the World — shocking children and incensing legions of tourists and New Yorkers alike. The expanding cadre of topless talent — wearing only a thong, a thin layer of paint and a smile — fight it out with the usual cast of amateur Buzz Lightyears and Spider-Men for souvenir photographs at $10 to $20 a pop. “It’s inappropriate,” 
fumed Odessa Leitch, 38, watching the provocative parade of ladies with her 12-year-son and 3-year-old daughter at her side. “Oooh,” added her stunned son, Tyler George, “there are little kids around here.” Last summer, random Saturday tallies of near-naked women in the area found 21 working between May 24 and Aug. 2. This year, between May 30 and

July 14, their numbers nearly doubled to 40 as the line between tasteful nudity and blatant exhibitionism became ever blurrier. Most of the ladies, in a patriotic show of pulchritude, sport the American flag across their breasts — but a growing number of critics aren’t saluting their multicolored mammaries.

Gripers says the women are shakedown artists, aggressively trying to collect a tip in return for a brief Broadway photo op.
“I understand New York is all about self-expression,” said Parfait Mutimura, a New York banker who objected to the topless troupe working Saturday.
“But there are a lot of kids out here,” he said. “They could keep these women in a different spot, away from the Disney characters, but they wouldn’t make as much money. That’s what this is about, right?”

Even the Naked Cowboy has seen enough.
“There’s so many boobs,” sighed Robert John Burck, “you don’t look at them anymore.”
Over two days, the topless ladies were spotted repeatedly surrounding groups of tourists — seemingly ignoring the presence of children.