It’s “rough” enough that most Times Squares characters tend to get in life-threatening scuffles with one another, but when they start taking their aggressions out on a child, you know the area isn’t just unsafe for office workers forced to pass through it.
A recent instance of this occurred after a man dressed in a Mickey Mouse costume accosted a child for not paying five dollars to get his photo taken with him–a photo that was neither wanted nor actually taken. Yes, to be sure, the Midtown/Times Square area is rendered even more terrifying when you can’t even pass through it without losing your innocence to the pesterings and haranguings of a giant mouse.