Well, from the police officer's standpoint, it's official. Women can walk around New York City topless. Apparently from a civil law standpoint it's been official since at least 1992.
There's at least one woman no doubt merried by the news, Moira Johnston, a "topless activist" who shows up periodically in Union Square Park, among other parts of town, in an effort to push the issue in her role as a sort of living social enzyme to the cause. I admit that I was initially mesmerized in my sightings of her -- a predicament not helped on one sunny afternoon when she decided then and there to apply sunscreen directly to her ladies.
August 13, 2013 - Moira Johnston and unidentified fellow topless friend give interview in Union Square Park.
However, to her point's credit, I noticed that in time I jaw-dropped less in our random encounters, shrugging a little more each time. I began to imagine just how "intrestingly" normal it could actually be if somehow the streets filled up with hundreds more just like her. Ultimately, what's more interesting and fun to watch now are the reaction of other, unacclimated people, whenever she shows up.
She was arrested at least once but she wasn't fazed by it. As I recall from an interview (which appears to have been pulled from embedded status on Vimeo) she knew what she was getting into when she started, calculating and expecting all the predictable outcomes which are, from my own observations, excited men constantly trying to befriend her, photo requests, concerned parents for their kids, and, yes, the occassional arrest - which she has been rightly adamint about would be false arrests. Well, judging by the police memo at least a night in the pen is one concern she can scratch.
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