Everywhere, a group of New Yorkers gather on the subway in early January to drop their drawers. They board the train discretely, fully clothed. Once the train pulls away, all bets – and all pants – are off.
Sponsored by Improv Everywhere, it’s No Pants 2K8. At 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, the group is meeting at Foley Square near the Brooklyn Bridge stop on the East Side IRT. The organizers want everyone to bring a backpack for storage purposes and a MetroCard. (I recommend an Unlimited Ride card if you’re a frequent traveler.)
Here’s how it’s going to work:
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. Sit near your group.
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 anyone asks you why you’ve removed your pants, tell them that they were “getting uncomfortable…”
Exit the train at your assigned stop and stand on the platform, pantless…You will wait on the platform for the next 6 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.
The group plans to travel to 125th St. and then back down to Union Square. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. They also discourage gawkers; if you want to watch, you have to participate unless you’re discrete about watching.
This is the seventh such mission, and it’s not illegal. Since the arrests in 2006, the cops have left well enough alone even if they show up in a public safety capacity. Just wear underwear.
If you’re out of town, worry not. You can participate in No Pants 2K8 in Toronto, Boston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, Salt Lake City, Baltimore and Adelaide, Austrlia. So you’re pretty much covered.
Meanwhile, what will all of those pants-less and pants-wearing riders have to deal with this weekend? Well, lots and lots of service advisories, of course. Click through for the details.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14, 1 trains skip 28th, 23rd, and 18th Streets in both directions due to Part Authority work on the WTC site at Cortland Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14, there are no 1 trains between 14th Street and South Ferry due to Part Authority work on the WTC site at Cortland Street. Customers may take the 2 or 3 between 14th Street and Chambers Streets. There is a free shuttle bus available between Chambers Street and South Ferry.
– This one’s ongoing through the end of March
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14, 23 trains run local between 96th Street and Chambers Street due to Part Authority work on the WTC site at Cortland Street, roadbed reconstruction at 59th Street and station rehab work at 96th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14, Brooklyn-bound 4 trains skip Fulton Street due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center.
From 4 a.m. Saturday, January 12 to 10 p.m. Sunday, January 13, free shuttle buses replace 4 trains between Woodlawn and Bedford Park Blvd. due to track panel installation at Mosholu Parkway.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14, Brooklyn-bound 5 trains skip Fulton Street due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center.
– This one is a pretty big deal. It has its own special press release, its own homepage link on MTA.info and some lovin’ from the LIRR.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14, there are no 7 trains between Main Street-Flushing and Woodside-61st Street due to signal replacement. Free shuttle buses and free LIRR service provide alternate service.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14, Queens-bound A & C trains skip Lafayette, Clinton-Washington, Franklin and Kingston-Throop Avenues due to hydraulics work at Lafayette Avenue.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, January 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14 (and weekends through February 4), Queens-bound F trains run on the V line from 47th-50th Sts. to Roosevelt Avenue due to work in the 60th Street tunnel.
From 11 p.m. Friday, January 11 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14, Coney Island-bound F trains skip 4th Avenue, 15th Street-Prospect Park and Ft. Hamilton Parkway due to roadbed replacement at 7th Avenue.
From 11 p.m. Friday, January 11 to 5 a.m. Monday, January 14, there are no G trains between Nassau Avenue andSmith-9 Streets due to switch replacement at Bedford-Nostrand Aves. Free shuttle buses provide alternate service between Nassau Avenue and the Jay Street-Borough Hall AF station.
From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, January 12 and Sunday, January 13 (and weekend until January 26-27), Manhattan-bound Q trains run express from Kings Highway to Prospect Park due to rail replacement.
4 comments
Sounds hilarious. Ben, will you be partaking?
Ben, here’s my take on the #7 train outages:
http://capntransit.blogspot.co.....there.html
Through the end of March? Through the end of March Aaarrrrgh!
Oh well, at least the end is in sight now. Thanks for ferreting that out – I somehow missed it on the MTA’s site.
[…] year, I was curious to see what Improv Everywhere’s no-pants day was all about it. In a nutshell, the public pranksters wreck havoc on the subways by organizing a […]