We all know how much airport security can suck. You wait on a rotating line and push your heavy suitcase on the floor, inch by inch, then you're forced to quickly take off your shoes, watch, belt and anything else metallic before walking through the detector. After all this is finished, you're pressured to pick up all your belongings again and move out of the way as fast as possible because the next mobile traveler always seems to be breathing down your neck. 
More »

Twenty-two-year-old nude model Zoe West, arrested in August of last year for getting completely naked in Times Square as part of a body-painting art show, has just won a $15,000 settlement from New York City, according to the New York Post.

It all started innocently enough: artist Andy Golub was painting West's entire body as onlookers and police alike looked on. Even though she was topless, she was completely covered with paint, and as we've exhaustively chronicled in the past, there's nothing legally wrong with showing a nipple if that's what you're into. The problem started when West removed her thong so that Golub could finish up. That's when according to the Post, a "visibly unnerved" NYPD sergeant, Anthony Fusaro, cockblocked everyone ended the show by handcuffing West and throwing her, now sans knickers, into a paddy wagon.

More »

Last year, we here at the Voice discovered a small state law after a woman was spotted topless on the Bowery: females have the same right as males to appear naked from the waist up in public. A few months later, we offered a guide on how to rock out with your boobs out on New York City's streets. Needless to say, everyone had a great time writing and reading about it.

See More: Photos from 2012's Go-Topless Day

Read More: New York Women March For Equal Rights; Boob Puns Ensue

More »

It's almost officially summer!

This means that you'll soon have the chance to fully enjoy all of the sunny season's amenities such as ice cream, bike rides, barbecues, beach trips, and walking around bare-breasted.

Yes, you read that right: Full-on public boobage is OK in the city and state.

As the Voice reported last year, it's perfectly legal to walk around New York topless.

This stems from the 1992 arrest of Ramona Santorelli and Mary Lou Schloss in a Rochester park. They and five other women got jailed because the law prohibited women from showing "that portion of the breast which is below the top of the areola." Santorelli and Schloss called shenanigans on the statute: They said it was "discriminatory on its face since it defines 'private or intimate parts' of a woman's but not a man's body as including a specific part of the breast." New York's highest court wound up ruling in their favor, which is why we can walk around almost au naturel today. Hooray!

Of course, this leaves many dangling questions about proper breastiquette: What's the right way of letting the ladies hang?

More »

Today on the nude beat: There's a calendar/guide available that may be the perfect stocking stuffer for your nudist uncle, if you have a nudist uncle (and who, honestly, doesn't?). This gift item is called The Skinny Dipping Report, and it is described as "a calendar and guide to swimming naked in beautiful places, featuring the best amateur nude photography the Internet has to offer." The whole Internet! That is a big place.

More »

Here is another reminder that the most wonderful time of the year is weighing upon us like last year's leftover fruit cake. If you find yourself in Astoria tomorrow between 12 and 4 p.m., you should know that the semi-clad Santas running through the streets are doing it for charity. It's the second annual Santa Streak, in which 100 or so residents of the neighborhood are expected to participate in a one-mile run wearing "only Speedos or similarly revealing holiday costumes." For a good cause! Why Leave Astoria, the organizer of the run, asks participants to bring old coats and clothes to donate to New York Cares: "take it off, strip down as far as you want, then run like hell to the secret bar where we'll be serving up some free suds."

More »

via

Back in June, when it was sultry and sunny on the city streets, there was a woman who walked the Bowery topless. Some were shocked, as people sometimes are; others responded coolly, knowingly that, actually, it is legal to be topless as a woman or a man in New York City. Still others were inspired to try it for themselves. And then, we all pretty much put our shirts back on and went about our business, except for a group known as the Outdoor Co-Ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society. After a first meeting on August 17, they are still going topless as they read pulp fiction outdoors in various New York City locales -- although probably not today, given the rain. They are hoping to take female toplessness from "something taboo," albeit legal, to something that people don't much notice, or care about if they do. They've got a blog that's been seen by more than 100,000 people (and they're on Twitter, now, too). We had a chat with a couple of the group's members this weekend.

More »

Simone's photo

Erica Simone is a French photographer who recently published a Not Exactly Safe for Work photo collection called Nue York: Self-Portraits of a Bare Urban Citizen, in which she does average daily New York City things totally nude -- jogging, riding the subway, riding a motorcycle, buying a hot dog, and so on. Her show ran from April 14 through April 28 at the Dash Gallery, and got, as she wrote us, "quite an extensive amount of press in May/April." We even covered it on this blog. Now Simone has gotten in touch to let us know that Zappos may be ripping her off in a campaign that looks kind of a lot like at least one of her photos, in so much as it is of a naked lady, running. (Note that in the original photo of Simone running, she does not have her lady parts hidden with any bars, much less ones that advertise clothing.) Simone writes of Zappos, "Their campaign is scheduled to fully run in August. The copyright issue is significant and a lawsuit may result from it."

More »

Here's footage from the hotly anticipated World Naked Bike Ride, which finally happened this Sunday. "As soon as the cops split the shorts came off," reports WNBR NYC. Seems like a ready-made tagline for next year's event. There was apparently a significant police presence limiting nudity this year: "14 cops on scooters and many more NYPD officers in 3 interceptors, 2 cars, and 2 van. At least 25 officers assigned to the event." World Naked Bike Ride, by the way, is not just about nudity -- it's also about protesting harmful environmental effects from cars and oil dependencies and promoting alternative transportation. Plus, nudity.
[JDoll / @thisisjendoll]

via

Because we know you've all been waiting for it, we are happy to report that the World Naked Bike Ride is happening Sunday. Postponed in June because of inclement weather, the ride will depart from East River Park near Houston Street at 4 p.m. The event's Facebook page declares: "Bare as you dare! You choose what not to wear!" Just remember people, under-boob sweat is not pleasant. [Gothamist]