The owner of a Manhattan topless joint has hired a civil rights attorney to block proposed taxes aimed at establishments like his by arguing that the raunchy dances are protected as free speech. A Bronx lawmaker is proposing to impose a $10 tax on patrons of the city's hundreds of "mammary meccas," as the New York Post so delicately puts it.
"It's entertainment and it's guaranteed under the First Amendment," said the topless operator. The politician "needs to take a course that covers the US Constitution." (More Constitution stories.)