Yes. Women can go topless in New York in most public places where men can be shirtless, and have been able to since 1992. The state’s highest court held that year that New York’s indecent exposure statute does not reach women who simply bare their chests in public, so long as the exposure is not commercial or lewd. That is the short answer to whether women can go topless in New York. The longer answer involves two statutes, several places the rule doesn’t reach, and a long history of officers enforcing the law incorrectly.
The 1992 Ruling That Settled It
The case is People v. Santorelli. Several women had been charged under Penal Law Section 245.01 for baring their breasts in public, and their lawyers argued the statute unconstitutionally treated women’s bodies differently from men’s. The New York Court of Appeals never reached that constitutional question. It read the statute narrowly and concluded that Section 245.01 was aimed at commercial and lewd exposure, not at women who chose to go shirtless.1Justia. Top-free Rights for Women: A Showdown in Manhattan
The practical effect: non-commercial, non-lewd female toplessness does not violate New York’s exposure law anywhere in the state.
What Section 245.01 Says
On its face, the statute makes it an offense to appear in public with intimate parts uncovered, and for women it specifically lists the breast below the top of the areola. After Santorelli, that language only reaches commercial or lewd exposure. The statute also carves out two situations outright: breastfeeding and performing in a play, show, or other entertainment.2New York State Senate. New York Penal Law PEN 245.01 – Exposure of a Person The offense is a violation, the lowest tier of New York offenses, not a misdemeanor.
Places Where You Can Still Be Told to Cover Up
Santorelli settles state law. It doesn’t override everything else, and these are the categories where going topless can still get you removed, cited, or asked to leave.
Private Property
Any business or property owner can require shirts. Restaurants, stores, gyms, and venues set their own dress codes and can deny service or ask you to leave. Refusing can turn into a trespassing issue. This isn’t about exposure law; it’s about who controls the space.
Federal Land
National parks, federal buildings, and military installations follow federal rules, not state law. Park regulations are set site by site, and some explicitly ban exposure of the female breast below the areola with no exception for non-lewd conduct. Cape Cod National Seashore’s regulation is one example of that kind of flat prohibition.3GovInfo. 36 CFR 7.68 – Cape Cod National Seashore Check the posted rules at any federal site before going topless there.
Public Pools and Recreation Facilities
Facilities run by the state or city can impose their own dress codes separate from criminal law. New York City public pools require bathing suits on the deck and in the water.4NYC Parks. Pool Rules These rules are enforced by the facility, and violating one can get you removed even though no criminal statute is in play.
Local Ordinances
Section 245.01 itself lets cities, towns, and villages adopt their own laws prohibiting the exposure it defines.2New York State Senate. New York Penal Law PEN 245.01 – Exposure of a Person An ordinance that singled out non-lewd female toplessness would run into Santorelli’s logic about treating male and female chests the same, and would likely face a challenge. Few New York municipalities have tested the question. If you run into a local rule that seems to conflict with the state precedent, the law is unsettled enough that you may want to weigh whether the fight is worth it in the moment.
When Toplessness Does Become a Crime
The statute to worry about is public lewdness under Section 245.00. It covers intentionally exposing intimate body parts in a lewd manner, or committing any lewd act in a public place.5New York State Senate. New York Penal Law PEN 245.00 – Public Lewdness “Lewd” is the key word. Being topless by itself is not lewd. Combining toplessness with sexual conduct, masturbation, or similar behavior is what crosses the line.6NY Courts. Public Lewdness Penal Law 245.00
Public lewdness is a Class B misdemeanor and does carry real criminal consequences, including possible jail time and a fine.5New York State Senate. New York Penal Law PEN 245.00 – Public Lewdness Officers sometimes also reach for disorderly conduct under Section 240.20 when they want to make an arrest. That statute requires intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm through specific behaviors like fighting, unreasonable noise, obstructing traffic, or creating a physically offensive condition with no legitimate purpose.7New York State Senate. New York Penal Law PEN 240.20 – Disorderly Conduct Being topless and drawing stares does not meet that bar. The reactions of bystanders are not your conduct.
What to Do If Police Try to Arrest You
The precedent is more than three decades old, and women have still been wrongfully arrested for toplessness. The NYPD issued an internal memo in 2013 reminding officers that bare-breasted women should not be arrested for public lewdness, indecent exposure, or any other criminal offense based solely on being topless. The order was read at ten consecutive roll calls. The memo also instructed officers that if a crowd gathers, the response is to disperse the crowd, not arrest the woman.
Women who have been wrongfully arrested have sued and won. One well-known case ended in a $40,000 settlement from New York City plus more than $37,000 in legal fees. These cases usually run on 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, the federal civil rights statute that lets you sue government officials who violate your constitutional rights while acting in their official capacity.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 1983 – Civil Action for Deprivation of Rights
If you are stopped or arrested in circumstances that are clearly non-lewd and non-commercial, document what you can. Note badge numbers, times, locations, and witnesses. Ask for the arrest paperwork. If an officer tries to pivot to a disorderly conduct charge, remember that the statute requires intentional disruptive conduct on your part, not a reaction from onlookers.
Breastfeeding
Nursing in public is separately protected. Section 245.01 explicitly exempts breastfeeding, so it is covered under state law regardless of the Santorelli analysis.2New York State Senate. New York Penal Law PEN 245.01 – Exposure of a Person Federal law adds another layer: public buildings open to the public that contain a restroom must provide a lactation room — a private space, not a bathroom, shielded from view, with a chair, a working surface, and an electrical outlet.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 40 USC 3318 – Lactation Room in Public Buildings