NEW YORK (AP) – Subway riders around the world got an eyeful when their fellow transit users stripped down to their underwear on Sunday for the annual No Pants Subway Ride.
The event, organized by the Improv Everywhere comedy collective, started in 2002 in New York with seven participants.
“We want to give New Yorkers a reason to look up from their papers, from their phones, and experience something that’s a little different than their average run-of-the-mill stuff,” said Jesse Good, one of the event’s organizers.
Pants-less subway rides were scheduled to take place this year in dozens of cities around the world, including in Boston; Berlin; Prague; and Warsaw, Poland, organizers said. Philadelphia’s version was sponsored by a laundry delivery service, which asked participants to show up with extra pants or other clothing to donate to charity.
Participants are told to get on trains and act as they normally would and are given an assigned point to take off their pants. They’re asked to keep a straight face and respond matter-of-factly to anyone who asks them if they’re cold.