Topless women in public not breaking the law, says NYPD

Women of New York, it’s OK to let the girls loose.

In February, New York City’s 34,000 police officers received a rather unusual memo: For “simply exposing their breasts in public,” women are guilty of no crime, reports The New York Times.

 The police officers were ordered that, should they encounter a bare-bosomed woman walking in public, they should not arrest her. In fact, should a crowd form around a topless woman, officers are to “give a lawful order to disperse the entire crowd and take enforcement action” against those who do not comply, says an official memorandum included in a federal lawsuit filed this week by Holly Van Voast. Van Voast, a Bronx photographer and performing artist, is known for stripping naked in Times Square, Grand Central Station and outside a Hooters restaurant in Midtown.

The decision that it’s perfectly legal for both a woman and a man to bare one’s chest in public comes after more than two decades of proceedings and protests fighting for equal rights to be shirtless. MSN