NY holds topless parade to support bare-breasted tip seekers

An activist marches in the protest march called the GoTopless Day Parade Sunday, Aug. 23, 2015, in New York. The parade took to the streets to counter critics who are complaining about topless tip-seekers in Times Square. Appearing bare-breasted is legal in New York. But Mayor Bill de Blasio and police Commissioner Bill Bratton say the body-painted women in the square who take photos with tourists are a nuisance. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen)

An activist marches in the protest march called the GoTopless Day Parade Sunday, August 23, 2015, in New York. The parade took to the streets to counter critics who are complaining about topless tip-seekers in Times Square. Appearing bare-breasted is legal in New York. But Mayor Bill de Blasio and police Commissioner Bill Bratton say the body-painted women in the square who take photos with tourists are a nuisance. AP

NEW YORK, United States — Broadway put on a very different kind of Sunday matinee: bare-chested women and men parading down the Great White Way.

The GoTopless Pride Parade took to the streets of midtown Manhattan to counter critics who are complaining about topless tip-seekers in Times Square.

Appearing bare-breasted is legal in New York. But Mayor Bill de Blasio and police Commissioner Bill Bratton say the body-painted women in Times Square who pose for photos with tourists are a nuisance.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the practice harkens to the pornographic “bad old Times Square” of the past.

Sunday’s parade was among dozens of such events staged in about 60 cities on the worldwide GoTopless Day.

GoTopless spokeswoman Rachel Jessee says the goal is for gender equality when it comes to baring one’s chest.

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