Improv Everywhere held its 18th annual No Pants Subway Ride (NPSR) in New York City. Its notoriety exploded in 2006, when eight of the 160 participants were “taken into custody and issued summonses for disorderly conduct. All were ultimately released, said Improv Everywhere, the group that organized the stunt,” according to NBCNews.com.
Jesse Good, Improv Everywhere senior agent, noted the year after the 2006 debacle, is when other cities across the globe started their own No Pants Subway Rides. This year, 24 cities in 10 countries participated in the event, and more might be announced on Improv Everywhere’s website later.
Though he’s been there since the beginning, Good said he might not be around for next year’s NPSR. He hasn’t ruled out coming back, but said he’ll stop for the time being.
Below is my audio story about New York City’s NPSR:
I re-recorded this story on May 12, 2020, after originally doing it on January 13, 2019. (c) Stefan Oliva 2020.
To complement the audio story, here are some of my pictures from the 18th No Pants Subway Ride:
Subway riders look on as people are pantless on the platform of the West 4th Street station. (c) 2019 Stefan Oliva
Vighnesh Rege reads on the F train. (c) 2019 Stefan Oliva
At least one person took the No Pants Subway Ride a step too far. (c) 2019 Stefan Oliva
A few people pose for pictures after the No Pants Subway Ride finished at the Union Square stop. (c) 2019 Stefan Oliva
Around 30 people gathered on Central Park South and 59th St. to protest the Trump administration’s actions against the thousands of asylum seekers at the border. Trump demanded $5 billion from Speaker designee Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer last week to build a wall around the border. Since they didn’t oblige, and among other reasons, the government partially shut down and will not have a deal until after Christmas.
The demonstrators noted that asylum is a legal right and immigrants are entitled to stay in the country while they go through the application process. President Trump does not, however, agree and made a deal with the Mexican president-elect, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to keep asylum seekers at the border in Mexico until their individual claims are approved. The deal goes against the long standing asylum rules.
An organization called Rise and Resist called for people to walk with them to the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, where they rallied and held up signs and pictures (some of which were provided by Rise and Resist) protesting how the caravans of migrants are being treated. The event organizer and other demonstrators were then told to disperse by police. Watch a video of the exchange here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCWTcw17uKE
Police claimed the protesters were blocking the sidewalk. It’s important to keep that in mind because this happened only two days before Christmas in one of the busiest parts of New York City, regardless of the holiday. Walking in that area and a few blocks south this time of year is like trying to move a glacier.
The crowd of 30 was full throated in their support of asylum seekers. Among them were also two Trump supporters. They tried baiting protesters, but were mostly ignored. Here’s a sample of that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6jCtO8uozk
At least two people in the demonstration know immigrants. One man’s parents are Cuban and said one of his closest friends is an immigrant and knows several others. He was inspired to attend the rally after going to a Rise and Resist meeting last week.
Protesters and bystanders in front of the Trump Tower on 5th Avenue. (c) 2018 Stefan Oliva
Several people on the street stopped to take pictures and videos of the protesters, who were met with people thanking them for coming out. They also, however, got a few hecklers along the way. A couple people said “boo hoo” when referring to the migrants and their children at the border. One lady on the street said “Hooray Trump” and laughed as she walked away.
Rise and Resist rally crossing the street to go to the Trump Tower on 5th Avenue. (c) 2018 Stefan Oliva
One of the counter protesters asked demonstrators questions while recording them and made counter points about the immigration situation and its history. The man holding his cell phone said President Obama deported many immigrants, which is true. In fact, he’s deported more than any other president in U.S. history at around 2.5 million people between 2009-2015. Fact checking site Snopes.com claims that’s only the case because the definition of deportation changed under the Obama administration.
Protesters showing their signs before heading to Trump Tower. (c) 2018 Stefan Oliva
Almost 100 people gathered in a Brooklyn Heights church last night to express their frustrations and share their stories about the voting process in New York City. Voters and elected officials alike responded to each other in a people’s hearing at the First Unitarian Church. There was an equal mix of groans, head shaking and even hysterical laughter as people talked about their experiences at the ballots just a few weeks ago.
It was well documented that people in NYC had to wait up to several hours to vote, albeit for different reasons . A common one being that at least one scanner was broken in multiple voting sites.
Man shares his frustrating experiences at the poll this year. (c) 2018 Stefan Oliva
Modernizing the election process and making it easier for people to vote were the main issues discussed. One man was accused of voter fraud because, according to the worker who had the book with everyone’s names, his signature did not match his previous one. He had to do it three times and show his driver’s license before they gave him his ballot. Another man was given two ballots, but he didn’t vote twice.
A poll worker in Carroll Gardens this past election explains the process behind training. (c) 2018 Stefan Oliva
Others at the people’s hearing also worked at polling sites on Nov. 6 and said the training, assistance and testing were abysmal. “The exam after the training is only 20 questions and is open notes,” said one woman who worked at a Brooklyn polling site.
A big part of these complications, according to Let NY Vote’s executive director, Susan Lerner, is an outdated system. “The last election laws were written in the 1930s,” she said. “It’s very behind and slow. Automatic registration and early voting are the way to go.”
People also complained about getting conflicting information from workers and indifferent responses when they asked for assistance. Better training for poll workers was one of the main points of emphasis at the event. Lerner said NY State’s Board of Elections is very underfunded.
According to its website, NY State’s B.O.E. has less than $12 million available for election operations, which includes training its polling site workers and volunteers. The recommended budget for reapproprations is almost $42 million, and that’s in addition to the roughly $11.5 million already in place.
In addition to scarce resources, an increasingly divided political landscape and tensions are spilling over to the ballots. “Under normal circumstances, we had deficient election systems,” said Minister Kirsten John Foy. “Under these circumstances, that can be fatal.”
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Let NY Vote is a grassroots organization working toward making elections in NYC accessible to all New Yorkers. They want to accomplish automatic registration, early voting, flexibility to change political parties closer to election day and pre-registration for 16 and 17 year-olds in time for the 2020 presidential election, among other things.
