It’s time for 17th Annual No Pants Subway Ride. The No Pants Subway Ride 2018 will take place at 3:00 PM on Sunday, January 7. There are seven meeting points for The No Pants Subway Ride 2018:
Astoria: Meet at Hoyt Playground – Google Map
Brooklyn: Meet by the Old Stone House – Google Map
Downtown Manhattan: Meet at Foley Square – Google Map
Midtown Manhattan: Meet at Hudson Yards Park on 34th Street – Google Map
Queens: Meet at the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Park – Google Map
Uptown Manhattan: Meet at the Great Hill in Central Park – Google Map
Williamsburg / Bushwick: Meet at Maria Hernandez Park – Google Map
HOW IT WORKS?
At the meeting points, participants will be organized into groups and assigned a specific train car. Once everyone is divided up yo will all head to nearby subway station. Do not talk to others once you enter the subway system. No one knows each other.
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.
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 you’d like to use a briefcase, purse, grocery bag, or whatever instead of a backpack that’s fine too. If anyone asks you why you’ve removed your pants, tell them that they were “getting uncomfortable” (or something along those lines.)
Exit the train at your assigned stop and stand on the platform, pantless. You will wait on the platform for the next 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.
Remember: Taking photos is not keeping a straight face. Enjoy the experience and resist the urge to document. Take those Instagram shots when the ride is over.
All train routes will converge on Union Square. Your exact route will be explained at the meeting point, and may involve a transfer.
You can wear fun underwear if you like, but nothing that screams out, “I wore this because I’m doing a silly stunt.” Wear two pairs of underwear if it makes you feel more comfortable. Don’t wear a thong or anything else that might offend people. Our aim is to make people laugh, not piss them off.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
The No Pants Subway Ride is an annual event staged by Improv Everywhere every January in New York City. (The date changes from year to year and is announced in early December.) The mission started as a small prank with seven guys and has grown into an international celebration of silliness, with dozens of cities around the world participating each year.
The idea behind No Pants is simple: Random passengers board a subway car at separate stops in the middle of winter without pants. The participants behave as if they do not know each other, and they all wear winter coats, hats, scarves, and gloves. The only unusual thing is their lack of pants.
Come back tomorrow to see fresh images from The No Pants Subway Ride 2018!