By Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald
Nantucket has the skinny on the island going topless this summer.
“We haven’t received a single call complaining about it,” Nantucket Police Department spokesman Lt. Angus MacVicar told the Boston Herald.
“I’m not saying people haven’t gone topless,” he quickly added, but no one has dialed 911 to call out any untoward exposure. The police logs have been peppered with deer strikes, animal bites, parking infractions, and noise complaints — it’s a vacation hotspot, so you’d expect a few of those.
Other blotter items include intoxicated bar crawlers, disorderly patrons, marine violations, and plenty of action along the wharf. Sewer overflows have plagued the island, like the rest of the region, from all the rain.
But no complaints about women going bare-chested to avoid tan lines.
“We would get calls if it was inappropriate,” the lieutenant added, saying if kids were around a parent would probably call. So far, they haven’t.
Nantucket Sheriff James Perelman agrees. He also reports fears of the tony Massachusetts island becoming a seaside strip club have not materialized. He’s wondering if the COVID restrictions being lifted have sent vacationers back to Europe where there are plenty of topless spots.
“I don’t go to the beach,” the sheriff added, so he hasn’t caught any topless behavior in general.
Lt. MacVicar added the worries about “buses or boats” diverting to Nantucket for some ogling have proven “a bit ridiculous.”
As the Boston Herald has reported, Nantucket Town Meeting members passed the topless bylaw 327 to 242 a year ago. Then-Attorney General Maura Healey backed the legality of the bylaw in December before changing over to the governor’s office.
Healey’s AG office stated: “We approve the Town’s vote authorizing any person to go topless on any public or private beach in Nantucket because we discern no conflict” with the constitution.
Alas, John Adams did not see this one coming when he penned the Massachusetts Constitution.
The Town Meeting members also banned hot tubs and spas in the downtown and historic districts and oust fertilizer island-wide, with the exception of farmland, to help keep the harbor clean.
The town on its website has said there would be an adjustment period to the topless bylaw. “We ask everyone to be patient and respectful as the island adapts to this first-of-its-kind bylaw in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”
A public records request made to Nantucket officials by the Boston Herald this summer came back with no new updates to the bylaw.
So it seems the stripped-down Town Meeting article remains in play with no complaints on file.
As for sharks, they are not avoiding the island.