Everyone knows — at least everyone who comes to this blog does — that it’s legal in New York for women to go topless outdoors, anywhere that it’s legal for men to do it. But being fully nude is another story.
There are times and places where it’s legal — if you’re putting on a play or participating in the creation or exhibition of art, for instance — but generally speaking if it’s just a nice, sunny day and you’d like to lose your swimsuit bottom as well as your top, your options are limited.
What New Yorkers commonly do is go up to the roof of their apartment building and do it there, though it’s not without risk. You won’t get stopped by the police, but a neighbor might see you and object, or see you and rather too enthusiastically not object, and either way can be awkward.
Our solution for the past several summers has been to visit the sundeck of a little hotel in Chelsea that has made its rooftop officially clothing optional — the sole official nude sunbathing option in the city, as far as we know. You can only use it if you’re a guest at the hotel, so we book a room and then the roof is ours.
It’s a five-story walk-up, so lugging supplies can be a chore…but we’ve been known to do it anyway, reconstructing the better part of a neighborhood bodega up there, from water and beer to fruit and chips and guac and muffins and…
And books. Like this much-loved copy of Stephen King’s It, dating back to when its reader (It‘s reader) was just 12 years old.
On the other end of the spectrum, our friends at Hard Case Crime gave us an early look at Understudy For Death, which isn’t going to be in stores for another month!
And when we weren’t reading or noshing,
We hung out and chatted–
And cooled down in the outdoor shower–
And napped–
And hydrated–
And shot selfies, with and without the church in the background–
And got a teeny, tiny bit of exercise running from one part of the deck to the other.
We modeled outfits and jewelry–
–and heart-shaped linzer cookies.
As you can see, not everyone went fully nude; no one has to. It’s just really nice to have that option.
Yes, there were a few penises out in the sun too. They deserve Vitamin D as much as vulvas do. (Vulvae? Sure, if you want to be all linguistically correct about it. Which of course we do.)
In short, we had a wonderful time. And until this particular sort of wonderful time is allowed in the middle of Central Park, we’ll continue enjoying it in our little rooftop sanctuary.
Would you like to join us next time? Or for our next topless visit to one of the city’s parks, for that matter? Either way, drop us an email — toplesspulpfiction@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you, and perhaps to induct you into our sun-swept sorority for the summer. 
I appreciate the bon mot “its reader/It’s reader”. Nice. I also appreciate the nicety of mechanics with which you italicized the title It but not the apostrophe and s. (I wish Stephen King could write as carefully as you do.)
If you’re going to be pedantic, it should have been Its, not It’s – there’s no apostrophe in its when it’s possessive.
You’re so right! Corrected. That’s an embarrassing error, especially given that we got it right just a few words earlier…
No, you missed the whole point of the joke. “its”, the genitive case of the pronoun, has no apostrophe. “It”, a proper noun, the title of a book, would, in forming a possessive, take apostrophe and s like any other noun. And here we have one of each. So, it’s a pun, but it’s made more sophisticated by the subtle complexity of the spelling difference. which would occur only in this case. In addition, she got right the fact that titles are in italics, but possessives added to titles are not, which I didn’t even know, until I looked it up.
Oh damn it, you’re right. Changed back. Should never doubt myself!
Oh, and I forgot to mention: the plural of penis is penes. Never “penii” as you sometimes see (it’s hard work being pedantic; you have to do your homework).
… and if you’re still being pedantic, penises is equally acceptable as penes, and far more common in use. And the plural of vulva is vulvas, not vulvae. As for me, I stick to one penis and one vulva – life is far simpler that way.
Happy Fathers Day. 🙂
Seriously, I am a man who follows you ladies because I enjoy watching you pursue your right to freedom. I enjoy watching your various antics and the books you read ( I am an avid reader, reading about 100 books a year). If any of you ladies have not discovered Victoria Thompson and her Gaslight Series, I highly recommend it. You will love it. Anyway, I enjoy you. As I said I am a Man (in his 78th year), and I would be less than honest if I did not admit I enjoy seeing you topless, and in in this case, nude. However, I think that is natural. And that is the point, isn’t it? It is natural that men admire women and vice versa. That society should put barriers between us is NOT natural. So, keep up the good work!
Steve Anderson Chester, VA
On 6/17/2018 9:46 AM, The Outdoor Co-ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciati
Final word – I love that venue! So many wonderful OCTPFAS occasions (and resulting pics) over the years. I feel quite at home there… 🙂
Love the pictures, the lucky guy and occasional body jewelry. Wish you were down here so you could enjoy what you are doing all year long.
AWESOME SERIES OF PICTURES.
Love the Natural exposure
In Columbus, Ohio they have Community Fest and they do breast painting and the ladies walk around topless and the police don’t bother them.
Which hotel is this? Wife & I frequent Fire Island, Gunnison, Hidden Beach etc. A NYC option would be great. My guess is Colonial.
Your guess is right. Strange that you describe it as a guess; anyone who’s been there would recognize it, and if you haven’t, a quick Google search would answer the question.
Haven’t been yet & there was another in the area that seemed possible.
You and your readers who appreciate the opportunity to sunbathe nude may be interested in an effort underway to establish a clothing-optional beach in the Tampa, Florida area. (Although the east coast of Florida boasts popular nude beaches at Haulover and Blind Creek, there are none at present on the west coast of the state, despite its many great sandy beaches.)
Proponents are trying to collect 10,000 signatures of support, which they plan to present to local and state officials. The petition is located at https://www.change.org/p/support-a-clothing-optional-beach-for-tampa-bay if you’re interested.
Perhaps O.C.T.P.F.A.S. may some day be able to make a winter “field trip” and help inaugurate a Honeymoon Island nude beach!
Each one of these photos contain elements of innocence and beauty. The first photo of nude ascending a staircase is positively art with the form, shapes and curves juxtapositioned against the vertical background. Such a pleasing image of beauty.
Hey, as German who enjoys the bigger freedom on nudity in Europe (we have full nude mixed Saunas & really huge Spa’s here, where at one Moment there are couple of thousand nude People around, like the Therme Erding near Munich) I follow your Blog for some while now. I really find your attitude and courage inspiring and wish that one day you will be able to spent time in the middle of Central Park full nude. We can do this in public parks over here, e.g. the Grueneburgpark in Frankfurt, the Tiergarten in Berlin or the English Garden in Munich. Whenever you are over here try out These places! Until then enjoy the freedom on the Roof with the Blue Moon 🙂 Yes, I saw the Beer in one ofthe Pics and actually really like this yeast beer as well ;o) By the way, when I was in Chicago I visited the full nude Areas Ponderosa Ranch near Indiana (at the normal days, not these platitudinous porn Events) and the even nicer Sun Ray Hills near Burlington, Wisconsin. Have great summer! FREEDOM