About 300 women joined the yearly Topless Parade from Columbus Circle to Bryant Park on Sunday to protest New York Mayor Bill de Blasio's move to get rid of bare-breasted painted females on Times Square.
Onlookers and sympathizers supported the topless women who are asserting their right to not wear upper garments just like men, reports The New York Daily News. Some men, who took photos and videos, could not believe their luck on the eye candy before them.
However, not all the men agree with 33-year-old Phoenix Feeley, a topless advocate in New Jersey. One man said those women should cover if they do not want men to stare at their breasts. However, some of the female protesters did not mind being ogled at as they shouted, "Free your mind! Free your nipples!"
The topless protests did not end in New York. Similar events were planned in 60 cities. Rachel Jessee, spokeswoman of New York GoTopless, stresses their goal is to achieve gender equality in the area of baring their top in public as men could.
To get rid of the topless women, the mayor last week proposed to tear up Times Square's pedestrian plaza and allow cars to use the area. He considered the topless protest and aggressive panhandling wrong.
While it is legal to be bare breasted in New York since 1992, de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton insist that the topless women who allow tourists to take their photos are a nuisance, reports ABC.