While reluctant to breakup the impressive flow of WNBR pictures, I feel an obligation to defend New York's image.
SouthBeachCandids wrote:
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Just having a lot of people in your city doesn't cut it. For nude events, demographics truly are destiny, and NYC just doesn't have very "nude friendly" demographics.
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I am curious as to what "nude friendly" demographics might be? The NYC WNBR touches two boroughs Manhattan,and Brooklyn, both have a high percentage of young singles in the 18-35 bracket. Certainly within that large group there are hundreds of thousands with demographic and other characteristics similar to the kinds of people we see riding in WNBR events in cities like London, or nearby Philly.
On any summer weekend, you can catch the packed Seastreak ferry from either Brooklyn, or lower Manhattan to the Sandy Hook beaches in New Jersey, including the famous clothing optional Gunnison Beach. The boat is always loaded with New Yorkers headed for a fully nude day in both public and the sun. It doesn't get much more "nude friendly" than that.
DavidDavin wrote:
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NYC is known for being one of the least friendly cities in the US and Europe for bikers in general. If you are not comfortable riding around fully clothed, you won't be comfortable doing it naked either.
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Actually, the bicycle friendliness of the city has changed substantially in recent years. There are dedicated, and separated bike paths and greenways, and lots of dedicate bike lanes throughout the city. (check online maps )
http://www.nycbikemaps.com/maps/nyc-...p-street-view/
Like London, NYC has a bank sponsored bike rental program that offers more than 6,000 bikes at a time. Its riders racked up almost two-million miles in just the month of May alone.
I don't know the route they used this year, but the WNBR usually starts out in the neighborhood of Williamsburg Brooklyn, which on a Saturday afternoon has a large chuck of its population, who are Jewish Hasidim, off the streets and observing the Sabbath. They then took a dedicated bike path over the bridge and into Manhattan, and headed downtown to the financial district which is relatively deserted on weekends. I also remember them taking a dedicated bike path uptown from there. The point being they wouldn't be encountering the nasty NYC car and taxi traffic most of the ride.
Looking at the big picture, it seems to me that the WNBR is doing well in places where it is legal to ride fully nude, and not doing so well elsewhere. The courts in Portland say its a legal tradition to ride nude, there is no law against it in London. In Toronto, I'm told, you technically have to, at least, be wearing shoes to make it legal. But, in other US cities, and in continental Europe, the police "could" arrest nude riders if they ever decided to. I suspect a lot of people just don't want to take that risk, even if the police have, so far, been looking the other way. Last year's two arrests in the NYC WNBR may have discouraged some potential riders from participating this year, and they found something else fun to do on a Saturday afternoon. Could be they took the ferry to a fully legal nude day at Gunnison Beach instead.