Thousands of otherwise regularly-attired individuals took off their pants in public yesterday afternoon for the 15th annual No Pants Subway Ride. Organized as always by Charlie Todd and the Improv Everywhere crew, the good-natured prank went off without incident (though it's early, and surely video of something will surface). The pantless embarked on their mission from seven locations throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, and following a bit of semi-choreographed half-naked subway riding, they all emerged in Union Square for a festive free-for-all.
New this year was a bit of counter programming from one Tony Zaret, who tried to launch an Extra Pants Subway Ride. Despite aggressively campaigning at Maria Hernandez Park in Bushwick prior to the ride, including the lure of free "I'm Doing A Flash Mob" buttons, Zaret hit the train with only two double-panted followers, one of whom was his wife Kaye. "Next year," he said, "the goal is five of us."
Ridiculously warm weather made the exhibitionist partying in Union Square extra pleasant for the pranksters—the torrential showers only fell when most everyone was still underground—and, despite the usual measure of internet sneering, everyone, both with and without pants, had a blast.
According to the official Improv Everywhere report, around 4,000 participated in NYC's ride yesterday.
