NEW YORK (Reuters) -
A federal judge barred New York City's police from stopping a photo shoot of 75 to 100
nude models in a residential neighborhood on the Big Apple's lower east side.
U.S. District Judge Harold Baer ruled that photographer Spencer Tunick could proceed with his shoot of the nude
models forming "an abstract shape" between 5:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. Lawyers for the city immediately
requested a stay of the order from the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. No decision had been reached.
Although the city had granted Tunick a permit to conduct the photo session with clothed models, he feared he would
be arrested when the models disrobed. He sued the city in Manhattan federal court seeking the order
preventing police interference with the shoot.
Tunick said in his suit that while state law criminalizes public nudity generally, it exempts people "entertaining or
performing in a play, exhibition or show." The suit argued that while the state legislature allows cities to further restrict
public nudity, the Big Apple has not done so.
Baer ruled that the shoot is clearly allowable under the First Amendment and state law, so the only remaining issues
were whether it would pose a threat to public safety or impinge on the privacy of area residents.
"I do not think the proposed photo shoot at 5:30 a.m., given the brevity of the actual nudity,
threatens the privacy rights of the block's residents or presents overwhelming concerns for traffic or safety which
should bar the photo shoot from taking place," Baer said.
The judge also rejected the city's argument that the shoot could be held elsewhere.
Tunick, known internationally for his nude photos, and his models have been arrested a number of times. In
December 1994, he and a model were arrested when the latter posed nude on top of an 8-foot (2.4-meter) Christmas
tree-style ornament at Rockefeller Center in New York City.
In 1996, two of Tunick's models were arrested after they posed nude on top of a snowdrift during a snowstorm below
a sign for an ice-cream parlor advertising "Frozen Fantasies."
Although most of these cases have been dismissed, Tunick alleged in his suit that New York City, acting through its
police department, has stepped up its attempt to censor him.
