…When an incredulous teenager heard one member of the improv group ask the others on the platform if they all had tickets, he excitedly exclaimed, “Never mind train tickets—you people don’t even have pants!”
It was only a few meager degrees above freezing and approximately 50 young people dressed in coats, sweaters and underwear absent pants or skirts boarded Jerusalem’s light rail train and rode. They reportedly read books, chatted among each other and otherwise acted normally, despite the fact that they were sitting or standing wearing only underpants, shoes and socks from the waist down.
The No Pants Subway Ride is reportedly an international event. It has taken place annually worldwide since 2002 the first No Pants Ride was staged by Improv Everywhere, the New York City-based prank collective.
Notoriously conservative Jerusalem has reportedly had a No Pants ride for the past three years.
Here’s how the Times of Israel described this year’s ride, which took place Sunday evening:
…When an incredulous teenager heard one member of the improv group ask the others on the platform if they all had tickets, he excitedly exclaimed, “Never mind train tickets—you people don’t even have pants!”
It appeared that few of the people on the train actually interacted with the pantless pranksters. Some stole glances at them and whipped out their smartphones to take pictures and immediately post them to social media. A pair of blushing female soldiers shyly checked out some of the naked legs on some of the young men. A male soldier ogled the women’s gams while texting about the spectacle.
Several older ultra-Orthodox men appeared to purposely try to direct their gazes away from the pantless commuters, though only one actually got up and changed his seat so as to move away from some half-dressed young women.
A couple of Orthodox teenage girls dressed in long black skirts were unfazed by the half-naked people waiting next to them at the Mount Herzl station, where the group got off to change trains at the end of the line.
“Good for them for overcoming the cold for the sake for their art,” said one.
“The way they are dressed is okay. It doesn’t bother us. We’re used to this kind of thing from the way people dress in the summer,” said the other.…