Sandra

I work in Times Square so I'm besieged by costumed characters daily. It's long-fascinated me, just who might inhabit those furry shells. I spyed this Elmo while exiting the office one evening this July. Unmasked, smoking, sweaty - hardly the object of any child's affection - I thought of tourist parents eagerly waving their tots into this Elmo's arms.

Turns out I had captured Adam Sandler, aka 'the Anti-Semitic Elmo.' Mr. Sandler - who was arrested in Times Square in September and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest - had become famous for his contemptuous rants. He has since relocated to San Francisco.

2012 has been rough year for Elmo.