New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed Tuesday to crack down on painted topless women who pose with passersby for photographs in Times Square, a move that could test the balance between civil liberties and public order at one of the world’s busiest crossroads.

The mayor said the city was exploring how to respond to charges the women were offending families and adding to the congestion in Times Square. He deemed the situation “unacceptable.”

“The women in Times Square, or the furry creatures in Times Square, are engaged in a business,” he said, in an apparent allusion to panhandlers costumed as children’s characters who also have generated complaints. “I believe that opens the door for us to enforce the way we would with any other business.”

Mayoral aides cited the possible use of laws prohibiting aggressive panhandling and blocking pedestrian pathways.

A spokesman for the New York Police Department also pointed to laws against public lewdness and disorderly conduct, though the city has no prohibition on nudity above the waist. The NYPD has an ad hoc task force with other agencies looking at the issue. “You can have 100 girls out there, or one and as long as they are acting legally we can’t do anything about it,” the spokesman said.