Quote:
Originally Posted by Davidavin
thanks for the insights and once again, for the photos...
Hearing about London this year makes me worry a bit about the future of that ride. This is on top of the depressing news from NYC. These are both "world cities". They call it the WORLD naked bike ride, but I think it is going to be a long time before it can truly be considered to be a worldwide success.. I can take heart in the photos from Mexico City, where I would not expect a good ride. Otherwise, leadership from London and NYC would really help in this effort. London has done its part. NYC? - ugh.....
Davidavin (Klondike)
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Klondike:
About an hour after I posted the latest update on those arrested NYC riders on Saturday, I was reminded of Willy ( no guys, not THAT
) but wise old Willy Shakespeare who wrote in Hamlet:
The lady doth protest too much, methinks!
It seems the NYC naked riders really have been trying to provoke the police into arresting them for indecent exposure for years, and they finally succeeded right in the middle of Greenwich Village last Friday night. Those two naked riders were held in police custody for 24-hours, and now they will have their day in court. They may have the support of some hot-shot New York Civil Liberties lawyers who might attempt to LEGALIZE nude protests, like the WNBR, by claiming it's freedom of speech, or that it's not lewd or indecent behavior in that specific protest situation. Who knows what legal approach they might take?
It should be remembered that the naked bike riders of Fremont in Seattle started after some streakers were arrested at the parade, and that a judge's ruling in the last few years that naked bike riding was a "tradition" in Portland opened the flood gates for the biggest WNBR in the world. And in NYC, a court decision in 1992 made it legal for women to roam the city streets topless, although, it seems, the police weren't drilled in that law until recent years, and women don't take advantage of it often, anyway.
Riding in the raw, apparently, is legal in the UK and Canada, but not in most US cities, where nude participants risk arrest.
So, those two guys who were arrested in NY on Friday, when the cop said "You can't ride around with your dick out!,"
may be leading the charge to a future huge WNBR in NYC, but they'll have to make their way through the courts and appeals. We'll see!
In London, it sounds like a little more police presence at the start and along the route might make for a better experience for all but the true pervs. The NYPD does a terrific job in handling the crowds, and many thousands of drunks, at the St. Patrick's Day Parade every year, a relatively small turnout of true pervs at a massive naked bike ride would be relatively easy to control. And the event could draw large groups of spectators, while giving a boost to the local economy.