Annual No Pants Subway Ride hits cities around the world

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 planned in dozens of cities around the world, including 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.

Wei Wei, a student from China who just moved to New York, was curious about the event but was on the fence about whether she was going to go through with taking off her pants. But there was no hesitation for Angela Bancilhon, a tourist from Australia.

“It’s fun. Why the hell not?” Bancilhon said. “We’re in NYC. Why wouldn’t you?”