Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010
Times Square Street Vendors
One day they're selling stuff to tourists, the next they're heroes. Alioune Niasse, Duane Jackson and Lance Orton all were credited with helping avert a car-bomb attack in Times Square in May. Festooned with the garlands of fame — media interviews, autograph requests, phone calls from the famous and powerful — they staggered under the strain: there was a spat about who saw what first, and Niasse, whose English is spotty, felt excluded. "It's starting to get back to normal," says Orton, "but it's taken a heavy toll on my business."