NAKED ART

NY to Rule on Lap Dance Exemption

Case hinges on whether stripping is an art.

Most visitors to the Metropolitan Museum of Art don’t go with a roll of two dollar bills in their pocket. But New York’s Court of Appeals will listen to arguments on Wednesday as it weighs whether or not stripping is an art form and deserves a tax exemption under state law. The case involves an Albany, NY strip club called Nite Moves that state officials say owes $124,000 in sales tax from 2005 – but the club says its patrons are appreciators of an art form as rarefied as theater or ballet. Sure, The Nutcracker and Le Sacre du Printemps evince a serious lack of bump-and-grind, but who hasn’t thought that the work of George Balanchine could be improved with a couple pasties?