As a kid growing up in and near New York City my friends and I would occasionally visit the adult-oriented Times Square area. It had always been the legitimate theatre and world cinema premier district and that place where the ball drops annually at the stroke of New Year's with or without Dick Clark on the scene.

The "Ball Building" occupies #1 Times Square and is known today as the Allied Chemical Tower (center in photo). Decades ago it replaced the venerable Times Building, once the offices and printing facility of the New York Times newspaper, for which the Crossroads of the World is named. 

One of the more clever Sixties folkies, Tom Paxton, penned a ditty about 40 years ago with a lyric that began..."Did you ever spend New Year's Eve in Allied Chemical Square?  It used to be called Times, but times have changed."

For those unfamiliar with New York City history, Times Square has also been known for some very sleazy things -- less so since the 1990's when then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani prioritized the clean-up of adult theatres, peep shows, adult book stores and rip-off shops that perennially displayed Going Out of Business signs to con tourists into believing that rock-bottom liquidator pricing was in effect; of course, all sales were "final" on the shoddy and counterfeit products they sold -- but sleazy nonetheless.

Along with sleazy businessmen, Giuliani also went to war against an army of pimps, hookers, shell-gamers and every other type of street criminal you can imagine plus a whole bunch more...the kind of miscreants that spend every waking hour perfecting methods of preying on tourists drawn to Times Square to see the world's foremost Neon Babylon for themselves.

During my college years I worked as a New York City cab driver during school breaks.  I would warn tourists to avoid doing touristy things while in Times Square; things like gawking at billboards and provocative theatre and storefront signage.  I advised them, instead, to pay close attention to things going on around them at street level in order to keep from getting jostled and ripped-off by pickpockets and purse snatchers.  Above all, I always warned tourists to keep their hands on their money and not to handle cash while on the street under any circumstance.

After leaving school I worked as a salesman for a company whose offices were located within walking distance of the pre-Giuliani Times Square.  We frequently entertained out-of-town clients to whom I would issue the same advice I used to give my cab customers. 

One summer day in the early Seventies as an associate and I were walking near Times Square we were accosted by a group of what appeared to be young schoolgirls.  Once they got closer and started putting their hands on us -- attempting to stick flowers in our breast pockets as a "charity" ploy while dipping deeper into the rest of our pockets -- we realized that these "girls" were actually petite teenagers with incredibly tiny hands.

Since I was already hip to the tactics of pickpockets I spotted what many people might have missed.  One of the girls had extracted some money from my associate's pocket and was hiding it in the palm of her hand. I grabbed her by the wrist and forced her to let go of the bills. Immediately, at least half a dozen "little girls" were screaming "Rape!" and pointing frantically at the two of us.

Fortunately, a cop that I had known through a mutual friend was the first to investigate after a crowd of mostly tourists, had gathered.  He knew right off the bat that it was my co-worker -- not the girls -- who had been victimized.  He explained that the girls were attached to a large contingent of Gypsies who were running various street crime, fortune-telling and séance scams in the Times Square area.

From that day on, even after relocating 150 miles north of Times Square, I have added "...and watch out for the Gypsy girls with flowers" to my warnings when people tell me they're planning a visit to the Isle of Manhattan.  Like a couple of months ago when, along with directions and a description of the Theatre District, I gave the official warning to one of our local customers, a young man who mentioned that he and his wife would be visiting the City for the very first time to see a Broadway production.

The next time I saw him he thanked me for the info and warnings and mentioned, specifically, that there wasn't a Gypsy girl anywhere in sight, although he did sense that there were other people around who were quite ready to pick his pockets.  I guess any story about European Gypsies in the heart of a major US city is the kind of thing that sticks in people's minds.

Last week I read a news story that explained where the Times Square Gypsy girls might be working.  While the article never uses the G-word to describe the Parisian street criminals I could tell right away that their MO was a perfect match -- which was confirmed when a little search engineering turned up this story and this one.

Whatever the reason for the Gypsies' return to their old haunts in Europe -- an economy-related decrease in New York City tourism combined with tighter security and an increased police presence might be the reason -- it appears that Times Square isn't the only place where they have dropped the ball. 

Add Piccadilly Circus, Place de la Concorde and Piazza Venezia to the list of Gypsy crimewave venues.