The hectic heart of Hollywood Boulevard has long been a mecca for an eclectic cast of street performers and hustlers: knock-off superheroes mugging for photos, break dancers wowing the crowds, aspiring musicians hawking CDs to throngs of passing tourists.

But police complain that the colorful antics on an especially busy stretch of the Walk of Fame have sometimes become a menace, clogging up the starry sidewalks outside its iconic theaters and pushing pedestrians into the street.

At a City Hall hearing earlier this year, business advocates lamented that the famed block near Highland Avenue had become a chaotic hunting ground for aggressive hawkers preying on out-of-towners.

Kerry Morrison, executive director of the Hollywood Property Owners Alliance, told local lawmakers it was “an absolute embarrassment to our city.”

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