World News - Woman stuns tourists by walking topless round Manhattan

Woman stuns tourists by walking topless round Manhattan

MANHATTAN May 26: A woman has been creating a stir around New York after being seen wandering the streets topless.

Moira Johnston, an activist from Philadelphia, has proved a hit with the tourists around Union Square and the East Village with passers-by eagerly posing to have their picture taken with her.

Some called out words of encouragement such as ‘we support you’ and 'it’s natural’ while others were more critical, yelling abuse and telling her to cover up.

‘Some people hassle me and tell me to put a shirt on,’ she told Joey Boots in an interview.

‘Usually middle aged men, they think that it’s not legal. It’s the people who think it’s illegal who complain.

'People aren't used to seeing it in our culture.'

The 29-year-old said her bare-breasted stunt was intended ‘to raise awareness that it is legal for woman to be topless anywhere a guy can be without a shirt’.

She also wanted to draw attention to breast cancer, according to Chuck Bluestein, after her mother survived the disease.

Johnston’s controversial exposure caused her to be arrested on May 16 as she stood topless outside a children’s playground.

Police put her in handcuffs and bundled her into a squad car, wrapping her shirt around her chest.

They drove her to a police station where she was held for around an hour before being released without charge.