LAUNCHED....
The Naked Cowboy ran for Mayor of New York City in 2009 and launched his bid
for President of the United States this year.
THEY CALL New York the naked
city, but on Times Square, there's only room for one naked man. For 13 years,
that man has been Robert Burck, the Naked Cowboy.
Out there in all weather,
wearing nothing but a Stetson, white cowboy boots and tiny, tight white
underpants, he's a tourist staple almost on a par with Times Square's jumbo
screens and the glittering New Year's ball.
But Burck is the lone ranger
no more. Naked Indian has come to town. Dressed in a faux feather headdress,
tasselled suede boots, and underpants every bit as tight as those of his rival,
the Naked Indian describes himself as the new naked king of Times Square.
"There's more vitality,
energy in me," the Naked Indian, who would not give his real name, but is
reportedly called Adam David. "The cowboy, his legs look weary. He's in a
very vulnerable position right now. He's a hurting man."
Tourists and members of the
press photograph the Naked Cowboy in Times Square on 28th December 2007. He was
handing out 'Finding Dulcinea' web guides to New York City.
Tourists and members of the
press photograph the Naked Cowboy in Times Square on 28th December 2007. He was
handing out 'Finding Dulcinea' web guides to New York City.
The two nearly naked men are
an uncomfortable few yards apart as they vie for attention from tourists. It's
a battle in which either man could lose his shirt, if he were wearing one.
Burck insists he's not
worried. The imitation is "flattering", he said. But Burck used a
legal threat to force his rival to remove the logo "Naked Indian"
from his underpants, saying this infringed on his trademarked "Naked
Cowboy", written by hand across his own Fruit Of The Loom tighty whities.
Strumming a guitar along the
traffic-and-tourist-clogged thoroughfare, the Naked Cowboy is approached every
few minutes by grinning, mostly female fans. He poses with them for two
pictures—front side and back—and invites tourists to place hands on his bulging
chest.
One portly British woman
grimaces when he urges her to put a hand on his backside. Then her grimace
becomes a smile.
The Naked Cowboy says he
earns up to US$1,000 a day, the bills going right into his guitar. The veteran
street performer, who says he is 41, believes the Naked Indian, who only showed
up last month, will not last.
"I have a thousand
little tricks that he doesn't," he said, breaking into a country-style
song about "feeling edgy, because I've just had a wedgie", and then
flexing his biceps at a group of giggling women.
Naked Cowboy has built
something of an empire over the years, including a line of T-shirts, cowboy
boots and underpants available on his nakedcowboy.com website. Somewhat
bizarrely, he's also the face of a Long Island oyster company, whose logo
appears on his guitar.
Burck even invites would-be
Naked Cowboys and Cowgirls to join him in a franchise. He says the Naked Indian
would be welcome too. But the Indian, who combines muscle flexing with some
ragged drumming and pseudo Indian chants, has a darker tale.
"He was planning on
tricking me, using me, then taking me to court and basically making me his
slave," he said. "The cowboy cares about the cowboy. The cowboy is a
narcissist."
The Indian says he currently
earns between US$200 and US$500 a day and that "a little marketing"
will double that. As for his boots-and-spurs-wearing cowboy competitor, he'll
fade away, the Indian says. "He's had his glory days."
The duo's naked ambition
leaves hard-bitten locals nonplussed. "There's so much going on in New
York," Leslie Richmond, 46, said as he walked to his nearby office.
"This is really for the tourists, not New Yorkers."
Indeed, tourists are
astonished. "You don't get this in France, not at all. I'm not even sure
it's allowed," a blushing Samia Coeugniet, 57, said after she and her
daughter Julie had snapped pictures alongside the Naked Indian. "In
France, people are egotistical, introverted. Here, people are incredibly open,
friendly."
Times Square is not always
friendly. Even the huge Disney store cannot scare off all the oddballs, like
the man seen wandering about with a cardboard box over his head, inscribed:
"I am sexy and you know it."
The Naked Indian said he
faces insults, threats and drunken ravings. "This is like working in an
insane asylum," he said, and, as if on cue, a man leaning from a passing
car screamed: "He's a phoney!"
But then, gesturing with his
bare arm up at Times Square's blaze of electronic billboards, the Naked Indian
turned poetic. "It's considered the centre of the universe by many,"
he said softly. "Look how magnificent this place is. There are a million
and one lights here." (Relaxnews)
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