Costumed creeps like The Grinch and Cookie Monster can strongarm tourists for tips in Rockefeller Center because the city rules that regulate them only apply in Times Square.

“The rules governing costumed characters around Times Square are specific to that area and do not apply to the area in and around Rockefeller Center,” NYPD spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Frances O’Donnell told The Post.

In 2016 the City Council voted to confine the pesky performers to 8-by-50-foot “activity zones” around pedestrian plazas between West 42nd and 47th streets in Times Square after people complained about aggressive and sometimes violent demands for tips.

Rockefeller Center lacks those pens, but Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision to turn the area around the Christmas Tree into a pedestrian-only zone during the winter holidays has created a migration of the characters from Times Square.

While the characters are free to roam around Rockefeller Center pushing tourists for photographs then demanding payment, they can still be arrested for disrupting the flow of pedestrian traffic on public sideways, Sgt. O’Donnell said. 

She said the pedestrian plaza in Rockefeller Center is just a pilot program that wraps up after Jan. 1 so it’s too early to tell if the city will extend the restrictions that exist in Times Square.

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