Thanks to the orders of New York mayor Bill de Blasio, a privileged class of people has been created in that city's busy tourist Mecca, Times Square.  Real estate in that crossroads has always been pricey, but with high-end hotels and other redevelopment, assured access to space, even on the sidewalk, is a prize for those who seek access to tourists and their money.  None does this more avidly than desnudas, who are nude panhandlers who cover their bodies in paint (often with patriotic stars and colors).

The New York Post reports that not only are the desnudas getting out of hand, but the police are unable to apprehend them because they are protected under Mayor de Blasio's orders:

Costumed characters in Times Square are giving the finger to attempts to rein them in, refusing to stay in designated areas and continuing to curse in front of kiddies and threaten passers-by for dough.

Foul-mouthed desnudas, grabby Hulks and tourist-terrorizing gangs of Minnie Mice are still brazenly holding the Crossroads of the World hostage even amid a heavy presence of NYPD cops, who act oblivious to their disturbing antics.

At any given moment on two recent afternoons, only half of the two-dozen tip-mooching characters stayed behind the blue lines of Times Square's "Designated Activity Zones," or DAZs, the city-mandated areas created last year as their boundary for posing for photos and asking for tips.

Yet none of those who illegally strayed outside the zones were issued summonses by the half-dozen police patrolling the pedestrian plaza.

A law-enforcement source shrugged that the officers' hands were tied since most of the costumed panhandlers are illegal – and under the de Blasio administration, it's a no-no to go after them.

The social and civic capital built up by Rudy Giuliani is being squandered.