They grab your children, push you into taking photos without explaining it'll cost you — and then stalk you if you don't immediately cough up the dough.
Times Square's costumed pests are so merciless about squeezing unsuspecting tourists for tips that they'll follow you for a block hissing their demands for cash — and use hand signals to spread the word about perceived cheapskates, a Post reporter found.
Some of the costumed hustlers do an ominous cut-off gesture across their throats to warn colleagues when a tourist doesn't pay.
But the menacing characters don't tell anyone up front what the deal is: that they expect money in exchange for posing — and will harass you until you hand it over.
NY Post: Brian Zak
'MUGGING' FOR PHOTOS: A Post reporter and her daughter are hit up by an Elmo, who, after being denied a tip, signaled a Minnie Mouse and Cookie Monster to shun them.
A Post reporter discovered this as she and her 3-year-old daughter recently posed as naive out-of-towners in Times Square.
POST'S 'POOH' SPURS TURF WAR
They first mugged for pictures with some of the fuzzy figures, and the reporter-mom then feigned confusion, explaining she hadn't agreed to give any money in exchange.
One menacing furball followed the reporter along the block demanding money.
After her daughter posed with the man, who was in a dingy Elmo suit, the Sesame Street character held out his tip bag and implored, "Tips! Tips! Money! Money!"
Our reporter told Elmo she didn't have any cash — but the pushy mascot refused to give up, following her and haranguing her for cash.
"Money! Money! Money!" Elmo persisted.
The character then waved his hand under his chin toward a group of other characters while in pursuit, appearing to tell fellow hustlers not to waste their time with the mom and daughter.
Later, someone in a Minnie Mouse costume near the Post reporter also gestured toward a cluster of the characters, apparently tipping them off that she wouldn't fork over any cash.
And the reporter and her toddler got the cold shoulder from Cookie Monster after Elmo huddled with the group.
When the reporter told someone in a Hello Kitty costume that she didn't have any cash after a photo, the faux feline told her: "We work for tips. This is no good, lady. I can't believe this."
But the lectures were nothing compared with the other antics that some of the creepy characters have pulled recently.
Last Sunday, a man dressed as Cookie Monster was charged with shoving a 2-year-old boy after his mother, a Bollywood actress, didn't immediately tip him.
Complaints against the costumed panhandlers are on the rise, the Times Square Alliance says, including reports of gropings, harassment and masked menaces holding children until they get paid.
But officials have said that unless the costumed characters break the law, there's no real way to stop them from filling Times Square.
The characters are allowed to dress however they want and pose for pictures as long as they don't block traffic or demand payment — although they are allowed to ask for tips.
City Councilman Peter Vallone (D-Queens) is proposing legislation to ban the costumed characters — or at least to heavily regulate them — and the company that owns the rights to Sesame Street has said it is trying to "determine appropriate actions" to take regarding them.
lorena.mongelli@nypost.com
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