Topless Woman Files Suit After Being Arrested At Bath Beach Park

A woman who shed her top in Calvert Vaux Park is filing a suit against the NYPD after officers arrested her in the summer of 2012. The New York Daily News is reporting that Jessica Krigsman is arguing that her constitutional rights were violated as a result of the arrest.

In case you didn’t know (but, really, why wouldn’t you?), a 1992 New York Court of Appeals decision makes it legal for a woman to be topless in the city anywhere a man can be. After police told Krigsman to put on a shirt, she was arrested after “mouthing off” to officers about her rights to be topless. The Daily News described the scene and what she was ultimately charged with:

Krigsman “politely informed” the cops she wasn’t breaking any laws, prompting the officers to arrest her and put her shirt over her head “in a very aggressive manner,” the documents said.After five hours at the 68th Precinct station house, she was issued a summons for Obstruction of a Sitting Area, a little known violation of the Parks Department code that prohibits hoarding of benches.

That summons was dismissed three months later, the suit said.

Krigsman is asking for unspecified damages for false arrest, malicious prosecution and violations of constitutional rights.

I guess the real truth of the matter will finally be exposed in a court of law when all the facts will be bared. Get it?!

On a side note: I’m really impressed at the Daily News’ ability to turn a civil rights matter into a softcore porn photo spread. Go journalism!