The Hustles Of Times Square

Where the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well

Street vendors hawking churros and fruit cups. Many of them newcomers as migrants continue to find their way to the Big Apple. Just one of the many hustles as people trying to make a buck hope to find willing customers, mostly tourists, in a very crowded Times Square.

This series of photos is the result of a phone conversation last night with a friend in California. I was talking with him as I was walking through Times Square on the way to work, and he remarked, he’d like to sell, maybe hot dogs there but his impression was that there were no street vendors permitted in Times Square. So, as we were talking, I started taking these photos as evidence that his impression was off.

No New Yorker would be found dead in a pedicab. But they are omnipresent at Times Square and popular means of transportation for tourists, especially going to and returning from Broadway shows. They can be fun but a cautionary note. They ain’t cheap.

Throughout Times Square one can find Halal carts selling what some of us call ‘‘street meat.” If you are here on a budget, the food carts are a great inexpensive alternative to the restaurants and diners, that jack up their prices near Times Square. Unlike the pedicabs, the Halal and other food carts are well used by savvy New Yorkers.

Hats, tee shirts, sweat shirts, key chains and other souvenirs are easy to come by, are cheap and make great inexpensive mementoes of a trip to New York City. But while it may say “New York” on these items, when New Yorkers see someone wearing any of them they read it as “Tourist.”

This guy is selling laughter.

And this guy is selling tours.

And as for this guy - I have absolutely no idea what he is doing!

All photos copyright Gary Baumgarten

If you like my postings please subscribe. There is no charge.