No Pants Subway Ride 2011 Details for New York


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UPDATE – The New York Ride was a success– read about it and leave your reports here: No Pants Subway Ride 2011 New York Reports.

All are invited to participate in the 10th Annual No Pants Subway Ride. The event will take place at 3:00 PM on Sunday, January 9. Everything you need to know is in this post. Please read it carefully!

REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATION:

1) Willing to take pants off on subway
2) Able to keep a straight face about it

**THIS IS A PARTICIPATORY EVENT. DO NOT SHOW UP UNLESS YOU PLAN TO TAKE YOUR PANTS OFF. THIS INCLUDES THE MEDIA.**

DETAILS

When: Sunday, January 9 at 3:00 PM, Sharp! (Over by around 5:30)
Where: Six meeting points spread out all over New York City. Details below.
Bring: A backpack/bag and a metro card.
Wear: Normal winter clothes (hat, gloves, etc)
Facebook: You can RSVP to the Facebook Event

Complete logistics:

HOW IT WORKS

There are six meeting points this year. Take your pick. The Manhattan meeting points tend to be very crowded, so if you live in Brooklyn or Queens, definitely go to one of those! You’ll probably have more fun!

Astoria: Meet at Hoyt Playground – Google Map
Brooklyn: Meet by the Old Stone House – Google Map
Downtown Manhattan: Meet at Foley Square – Google Map
Queens: Meet at the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Park – Google Map
Uptown Manhattan: Meet at the Great Hill in Central Park – Google Map
Williamsburg / Bushwick: Meet at Bushwick Park (AKA Maria Hernandez Park) – Google Map

Everyone should meet at their chosen meeting point at 3 PM. Please be on time. Feel free to be early.

At the meeting points, participants will be organized into groups and assigned a specific train car. Once everyone is divided up we will all head to nearby subway station[s]. Do not talk to others once you enter the subway system. No one knows each other.

Sit in the car as you normally would. Read a magazine or whatever you would normally do. Your team leader will have already divided you into smaller groups, assigning your group a specific stop where you will depants.

As soon as the doors shut at the stop before yours, stand up and take your pants off and put them in your backpack. If you’d like to use a briefcase, purse, grocery bag, or whatever instead of a backpack that’s fine too. If anyone asks you why you’ve removed your pants, tell them that they were “getting uncomfortable” (or something along those lines.)

Exit the train at your assigned stop and stand on the platform, pantless. You will wait on the platform for the next train to arrive. Stay in the exact same place on the platform so you enter the next train in the same car as you exited the last train.

When you enter, act as you normally would. You do not know any of the other pantless riders. If questioned, tell folks that you “forgot to wear pants” and yes you are “a little cold.” Insist that it is a coincidence that others also forgot their pants. Be nice and friendly and normal.

All train routes will converge on Union Square. Your exact route will be explained at the meeting point, and may involve a transfer.

You can wear fun underwear if you like, but nothing that screams out, “I wore this because I’m doing a silly stunt.” Wear two pairs of underwear if it makes you feel more comfortable. Don’t wear a thong or anything else that might offend people. Our aim is to make people laugh, not piss them off.

If you haven’t already, please take a moment to read about previous No Pants Subway Rides.

Please leave your cameras at home and resist the temptation to snap photos with your iPhone, etc. while the event is happening. Take as many as you like before and after the event, but during the ride we really want people to enjoy the experience of participating rather than documenting. It detracts from the mission if everyone is taking photos of each other rather than keeping a straight face. Don’t worry, we have photographers assigned to every meeting point who will take great photos.

This is always a blast, and we look forward to seeing you there. You may bring along friends if you like, but make sure they get a chance to read all of these instructions.

See you on the 9th!

(Information for participating in other cities is here.)

Be aware that by participating, you recognize that Improv Everywhere is not liable in the event you are injured, arrested, or worse. By choosing to participate you are still responsible for your actions.

Comments

    • Although there is no official afterparty, a bar not too far from Union Square emailed me to offer a deal to any No Pants participants.

      FYI for those of age and interested:

      Hey Yallz…

      Kyle (prior year no pants rider) here at BILLY HURRICANE’S, down on Avenue B (btwn 2nd & 3RD) in the East Village will be extending a ‘Congrats to all partici(no)pants to the NO PANTS SUBWAY RIDERS with a FREE OPEN BAR on Sunday, January 9th after the ride!!! Details…

      What: OPEN BAR for NO PANTS RIDERS – Includes: Well Drinks, Bud Light Drafts, PBR Cans & Lil’ Hurricanes!
      When: Sunday, January 9th from 6:30pm-7:30pm
      Where: BILLY HURRICANE’S – 25 Avenue B (btwn 2nd & 3rd Streets) – East Village
      Who: 21+ No Pants Riders
      How: Show up sans pants (a must for open bar) … come straight from the ride.
      So, bring your (exposed) asses down to the East Village’s most fun & friendly hangout. We will also be serving food as well… so, save your appeti(ghty whities)! We will also be giving out prizes for best under-roo’s at the bar! Great music, great atmosphere… No pants.

      Hope to see ya all down here.
      Thanks!
      -BH
      http://www.BILLYHURRICANES.com
      info@billyhurricanes.com

  4. I have been wanting to participate in this for years and am FINALLY going to do so!!
    So excited!
    Got my Superman tighty-undies ready!!!

  6. Finally I will participate in one of IE mission!!!
    I’m going from dominican republic, if you dont take picture of me or have me recorded… I’ll hate you guys!!!
    c’ya on sunday!!!!

  7. This is going to be awesome! I cant wait to take my pants off. I will be sharing this with my friends.

  8. See you guys in Astoria! I’ll be there taking photos.

    Remember to stay by yourself on the trains (reading a book is always good) and keep a straight face! Those make the best pics. :)

  10. I am going shopping for red union suit long undies later today – if I can’t find red I will get something more revealing, like those thigh huggers..it’s got to attract notice!

  15. It says to act like you don’t know anyone, what if you do it with friends? Is it okay as long as you ignore the lack of pants?

    • It may be funny to have only one of you do it and the others continue to act as if nothing strange is going on. :P

      Hey do you guys know if the pro-pants group is coming again this year? Because I can’t see myself going pantsless in public (especially in January) but I really really want to participate in some way!

    • Yea I was wondering about this too cuz I’m trying to get my boyfriend to do this with me and I don’t know if he’d do it if he had to act like he didn’t know me. Plus I kinda already bought coordinating boxers.

    • I’m going to vote no….

      1) probably falls under “hey, look at me” funny-unders.

      2) don’t know if you want anything that encourages that particular activity, for you and in the possible case that it would spread to others…

      (joke safe, kids)

  19. Ha can’t wait I’ll see ya in maria hernandez park people! Bring some girls ;) I’m bringing some friends

  20. Hey Yallz…

    Kyle (prior year no pants rider) here at BILLY HURRICANE’S, down on Avenue B (btwn 2nd & 3RD) in the East Village will be extending a ‘Congrats to all partici(no)pants to the NO PANTS SUBWAY RIDERS with a FREE OPEN BAR on Sunday, January 9th after the ride!!! Details…

    When: Sunday, January 9th from 6:30pm-7:30pm
    Where: BILLY HURRICANE’S – 25 Avenue B (btwn 2nd & 3rd Streets) – East Village
    What: Show up sans pants (a must for open bar) Come straight from the ride…
    Who: 21+ No Pants Riders

    So, bring your (exposed) asses down to the East Village’s fun & friendly hangout. We will also be serving food as well… so, save your appeti(ghty whities)! We will also be giving out prizes for best under-roo’s at the bar!!!

    Hope to see ya all down here.
    Thanks!

    -BH
    http://www.BILLYHURRICANES.com
    info@billyhurricanes.com

  21. You people sound like a bunch of goofy hipsters . Are you going to be bringing copies of Pitchfork magazine, Pabst Blue Ribbon , and/or fresh editions of the book ‘Fight Club’ .?

    Freaking kitsch -soaked, MTV generation scenesters . The hipster subculture is totally worthless. Anyone who disagrees has the totally wrong belief on the topic . Bunch of fauxhemian conformists !

    • Each year the ride is attended by people of all ages, races, and backgrounds. High school kids from the Bronx participate along side grandmothers and toddlers.

      Your impression of us wrong.

      Thanks for stopping by.

      • Are you affirming that grandmothers participate in the pants removal high-jinks ?

        If any do they are probably baby-boomer Grandmothers, not much older than perhaps 60, at the most. People from that goofy generation that was born in the mid to late 1940’s .

        *The 80 to 100 something Grandmothers, who were born in the 1910’s and 1920’s (with names like Mildred and so on) would not likely participate in such undignified , adolescent junk .

        • My grandmother Beatrice participated. She is 93. Sorry you apparently can’t grasp the concept that being silly just for the sake of fun, but kindly take your adolescent junk cloud and rain all over something else.

    • You use your own judgment based on what we wrote above: “You can wear fun underwear if you like, but nothing that screams out, “I wore this because I’m doing a silly stunt.” Wear two pairs of underwear if it makes you feel more comfortable. Don’t wear a thong or anything else that might offend people. Our aim is to make people laugh, not piss them off.”

      (I have no idea what Mandex is.)

      • i’m assuming mandex is a combo of man and spandex. in other words something really tight and unflattering, lol.

  24. i missed it last year but i’m super pumped to do it this year. Gotta find some cute hello kitty underwear to wear for this :-P

      • Jason,

        Why are you assuming everyone who does this event is a hipster? People just go to have fun, for the laughs, comradery, and stories to tell.

        Going by your logic, I’d have to ask you a question: Are you a cranky old man or a Neo-Conservative Fox News Republican?

        Maybe you should come next time and join the melting pot….

  27. GETTING TO OLD STONE HOUSE: TRACK WORK CANCELS some SERVICE– My best subway worker friend informs me that F and G service coming from Church Ave and going north will be non- existant. The F and G MIGHT BE running normally on the south bound track. The R train MIGHT be normal. I have just checked the MTA web pages ( reset the day for Sunday) and they have nothing listed. Keep checking, and read the signs at your station, don’t count on regular service.

  29. It is so awesome so many other cities are participating this year! Solidarity! I just hope none of those cities have cops that miss the point completely as in the 2K6 ride… actually, now that I think of it, it would be nice if a cop or two joined in. (I don’t know, maybe that’s too optimistic… in both Seattle and Portland I’ve seen cops wearing pig snout masks on Halloween, but I’ve also seen them in riot gear.) And it would be *really* nice if nobody gets asked “what are you protesting?” It is my sincerest belief that IE is inoculating society from such failures of the imagination… I hope it works.

  31. Hey all —

    I have been dying to participate in this since I witnessed it two years ago. I missed it last year, so I’m psyched to be prepared for Sunday.

  33. Im pumped just thinking about it but the (great hill) location in centralpark seems like the closest to me but it looks so cunfusing to get to. Anyone else using that location? or the other manhattan location please HELP

  35. I tried to get my bar to do just this kinda thing, kyle, and they balked at it. i am glad someone is on it. see you there!

  36. how do you get to the two meetups in brooklyn? the google maps don’t really say, and tripplanner doesnt let me just put in the park name..

  39. I’m so happy i saw this in the Metro i never even knew!!! But snow or not im dropping them pants!

  43. I love watching the responses from people’s facial expressions, haha. I’m terrible at keeping a straight face! Is there such a thing as an equivalent of sunglasses for your mouth??

    Have fun everyone! Will be lookin out for the No Pants Subway Ride 2011 video :)

  46. i am flying in from Ireland on my way home to Michigan and it just so happens that i get to enjoy this tradition. I can’t wait to take my pants off.

  50. I can’t make it to the city tomorrow because of a dinner party but in honor of this event I’ve already RSVP’d w/o pants :-)

    See you in 2012!!

  52. Guess who needs to go clean underwear shopping tomorrow? I am from Arizona, so I am excited about the participation , and frightened about the temperature. I am guessing lots of upper laying tomorrow. C ya there!

  53. So excited! Looks like I am going underwear shopping tomorrow. Mom always said have clean underwear on when you leave the house. C ya tomorrow

  54. Just seeing this via Facebook. What about Boxer Briefs? They generally come in more fashionable looks than boxers, but they can be a little tight at times.
    And where is the line between “Fun Underwear” and “I’m wearing these because I’m doing a crazy stunt Underwear”? I’m thinking of going with my Captain America boxer briefs, so is that going to far?

  58. this is soo stupid .. i really feel the world is about to end .. how can people just come up with a stupid idea like this and find followers .. thi sis the stupidest thing people can do

    • No, attempting to assassinate a public official is MUCH stupider than this, and there’s a lot of stuff in between those two, and even stuff beyond that that is more stupid.

      I hope that bug dies soon… y’know, the one that’s up your butt?

  59. Just got home from participating in this year’s N-PSR – I didn’t put my pants on until I got off my subway stop at Prospect Park!

    I plan on being there again next year.

  61. My favorite line from a confused woman on the NYC 1 train, 1st car: “Why are they taking their clothes off? Is this prostitution?” LOL

  63. Started on the E train, 4th car. Hightlights of this year’s No Pants trip for me:

    (1) On the 23rd Street stop, as I am waiting for the train to come, an old man from Brazil asks me if I am celebrating “Majji.” With a purposely confused look on my face, I look down at my boxer-briefs, then back up at him, tell him that I’ve never heard of Majji, that I’m from Alaska (I live in Brooklyn), and that the weather in New York in the winter is like summer back home. All the while, at the corner of my eye, I could see my fellow no pants participants trying desperately to keep a straight face no more than a few feet away.

    (2) Riding the escalator slowly up without pants as people walking down the stairs on the oppose side slowed down in bewilderment. The escalator is such an underutilized no pants tool.

    (3) At the end of the trip, riding the train back to Brooklyn, still no pants–my brother was picking three of us up in a car. We got out of the station, saw the car standing right in front of us on a red light that was just about to turn green–we all quickly jumped in the car and drove away bank-heist style. I couldn’t stop laughing thinking about what that must have looked like from the point of view of the other cars at the intersection.

    Til next year, folks!

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