10th Annual No Pants Subway Ride

This was truly a flash mob. Thousands of people dropped their trousers in the New York City subway, baring their bods to their briefs with bitter temperatures upstairs.

At 3 p.m. Sunday, participating New Yorkers stripped down to their festive underwear to kick off the 10th annual "No Pants Subway Ride," tucked their pants away into their bags and rode on as usual as unsuspecting passengers gawked away.

The party, organized by the New York-based group Improv Everywhere, only took place from the waist down -- pantsless transit riders kept their top halves fully clothed, donning scarves and gloves as the temperature hovered around a far-from-balmy 30 degrees. According to organizers, at least 3,500 people participated in New York, eventually converging in the city's Union Square to celebrate.

http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,localizationConfig,entry&id=971412&pid=971411&uts=1294674906

http://www.aolcdn.com/ke/media_gallery/v1/ke_media_gallery_wrapper.swf

No Pants Subway Ride

Participants take part in the annual "No Pants Subway Ride" in New York, January 9, 2011. The yearly prank, organized by Improv Everywhere was started in 2002, asking participants to ride subway lines pants-free and acting naturally while riding amongst commuters. AFP PHOTO/Emmanuel Dunand (Photo credit should read EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)

No Pants Subway Ride

Before the event, Improv Everywhere advised its pantsless posse to explain that they were "getting uncomfortable" if their fellow commuters asked why they were going nearly nude. Jesse Good, one of the organizers, said there was no need for riders to do anything further to call attention to themselves. "We don't need to compound that and put a joke on a joke. We don't need to do stretching in people's faces, we don't need to do pole dances," Good told members of the flash mob Sunday as they prepared to strip, according to CBS.

Sponsored Links

Improv Everywhere says its main goal is to incite "scenes of chaos and joy in public places," something it's done before by orchestrating impromptu musical events and hijinks in mall food courts, parks and famous landmarks around the world.

The group's founder, Charlie Todd, said a pantless subway ride is a good way to break up the monotony of the cold winter months. "New York winters can be really brutal, and when people start to go a little crazy, it's nice to have an outlet," Todd told The Wall Street Journal.

New York wasn't the only city to get in on the action, though. Riders went bottomless in 50 cities in 24 countries Sunday, from Mexico City to Boston. On a Facebook page, organizers of the Washington, D.C., branch of the event made it clear that it wasn't advocating full nudity. "Note this is NOT a nudism event or group, nor is it affiliated with any nudism event or group. Undergarments should be selected which conceal all 'naughty bits,'" they wrote.