December 20, 2009 (New York City, NY) – A bare-breasted bike protest planned for New York City on Saturday night still took place, but everybody kept their shirts (or coats) on in the face of snow and cold temperatures reports the New York Daily News.

The protest against the removal of a bike lane on Bedford Avenue in the Williamsburg neighbourhood of Brooklyn was planned through this Hasidic Jewish neighbourhood just as families were exiting their synagogue on the Sabbath. Some fifteen well-bundled cyclists turned out for the protest ride.

The locals in this neighbourhood asked that the bike lane be removed because it was complicating things for children getting on and off school buses. Bike advocates respond that the area is “littered with ghost bikes, marking where bicyclists have been killed or run-over.” The bike advocates acknowledge problems with the school buses but suggest working together with the local community to see how we can make the streets safe for everyone. Some people in the Hasidic community take great offence at the sight of bare-breasted or even bare-legged women.

Read more NY Daily News and Syracuse News.