Unlicensed costumed television and movie characters continue to be a problem in New York’s Times Square. This time, an ill tempered Incredible Hulk was arrested for a second time for shaking down tourists and mouthing off to police.



Times Square in New York is not Disney World but tourists love to take photos with costumed characters. The not quite Dora the Explorer, Cookie Monster, Hello Kitty and a whole bunch of other non-authorized costume characters have become a fixture in the middle of Manhattan. However, these unsavory characters, besides being trademark and copyright infringers, have had their fair share of bad press and criminal activity.

We first told you about Junior Bishop in July 2014 during a previous life as Spider-Man. After taking a photograph, a woman gave Bishop, dressed up as counterfeit Spider-Man, a $1 tip which he refused and demanded a greater pay-off. An officer overheard the exchange and told imitation Spidey that he can accept tips but cannot demand money from people. Bishop gave the officer a fine New York greeting containing an f-bomb and told him to mind his own business. When Bishop was unable to produce identification to the officer he was arrested. At one point during the arrest Bishop, pulled away from the officer and punched him in the face. The phony Peter Parker was charged with assault and a myriad of other crimes. You can see the video of the lovely incident below but be warned of some dirty language. Bishop sued the NYPD for false arrest and is seeking $1.5 million in damages in relation to the incident.

Bishop changed his identity but not his ways. This past weekend, Bishop, now dressed as the Incredible Hulk, was allegedly harassing tourists in Times Square for tips when police came over and informed the visitors that tipping the characters is optional. The raging Hulk reportedly told the police, “I have a job to do. If you have no uniform, I’ll f*** you up,” according to his friend, a costumed Spider-Man. Bishop was arrested, again, after he refused to give police his identification. There was no fight this time.

We have been reporting on these awful incidents for a while and Disney and Marvel, according to the Police Commissioner, are not cooperating to fix the problem. These characters are violating companies’ trademarks and copyrights by creating unauthorized costumes. These trademarks are further tarnished and diluted by the bad acts of these furry panhandlers. Some unsuspecting people may believe that these characters and their bad acts are authorized or affiliated with Disney because they are in the company’s costumes. These characters are giving the brands and NYC a bad name and one wonders what will be the final straw before strong action is taken to rid Times Square of these super villains.