NYC performers can't roam free in Times Square anymore

Elsa and Elmo can't ask you for money anywhere in Time Square anymore.

New York City crews are painting streets teal for Designated Activity Zones this month to crack down on pushy panhandlers.

There will be eight zones, 8 feet by 50 feet, friendly to street performers asking for tips and selling tickets from West 42nd Street to West 47th Street.

“The intent is to allow people who are legitimately trying to earn a living, to earn a living, but also to allow people who just want to pass through to not feel like they’re being harassed or hustled,” Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance, told CBS New York.

The activity zones will operate on a first-come first-serve basis and welcome everyone from musicians to fake Buddhist monks.

Performers caught working outside of the zones can be issued summonses or face arrest, AP reports.

Plans for the Times Square Plaza zones were drafted in March.

Here's a current map of the zones, which are subject to change.

Some say the new rules go against performers' First Amendment rights.

"The legislation has created a no-free-expression zone in the quintessential public space, the Crossroads of the World," lawyer Norman Siegel told AP.

Police will start enforcing the new Times Square Zones June 21.

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