[crispus]

MIDTOWN — A group of strippers traded their poles for snow shovels Wednesday in a topless attempt at clearing Times Square sidewalks. But police were having none of that, and ordered the nearly-naked ladies back inside.

The NYPD reminded the troupe from the Cheetah Club — who wore stilettos and unbuttoned jackets revealing nothing but bare skin underneath — that Times Square was a now a family neighborhood.

"There were tourists and kids," said Bruce Lynn, a spokesman for the West 43rd Street club. "But the firemen liked it, and the sanitation workers liked it."

The strippers said they were just attempting to do their civic duty.

"We're here helping the mayor clean the city up," said a dancer, who called herself Giselle, who stood with six of her colleagues in the bone-chilling cold.

The troupe had to change locations after police shut down their first attempt at bare-breasted shoveling in front of the Nasdaq building, despite the fact that court ruling in the 1990s made it legal for women to be topless in New York. They let the Cheetah Club manager off with a warning, said Lynn.

Passersby stopped to snap photos for the few minutes the dancers shoveled the snow.

"I love it," said a man who photographed the women blowing him kisses, but declined to give his name.

Cheetah Club had to close during the Dec. 26 blizzard and Wednesday's stunt was a way to let people know that the spot was still open for business, said a dancer who referred to herself Zsa Zsa.

"Everyone has to do their part," Zsa Zsa said of storm clean-up. "Even us."