Friday, December 7, 2012

December Saturdays

For awhile this past Saturday, it seemed as if I ran into swarms of bargoers at every turn. More than usual. Earlier than usual. And this was starting with the brunchers around 12:30 p.m. on Avenue C. (I overheard one well-heeled brunch-goer suggest that they buy some beers and sit on a stoop after brunching on brunch.)

Anyway, I may have made a comment about all this on the EVG Facebook page Saturday. Something like:

A lot of large groups of really stupid people out tonight. Not used to this in the past month. My Jackass Guard is down.

And some 60 people responded, many having witnessed all this too ... a few comments:

• "Huge bro & woo packs from Chelsea over to EV. I ran home to take a xanax."

• "it sounded like an absurdist theatrical performance was walking down my block"

Anyway, since then, several people have pointed out that it's only going to get worse ... tomorrow marks an Ugly Sweater Pub Crawl starting at the Village Pourhouse...


Then on Dec. 15, also starting at the Village Pourhouse....


Per PubCrawls.com:

Yes, it is as crazy as it sounds. Picture thousands of Santas running throughout the streets of the city to some of the best bars that Manhattan has to offer.

Oh, and Dec. 15 is also SantaCon.

As one sort-of EVG acquaintance said last Saturday, maybe we should just be happy that people are returning to the neighborhood post Sandy to help the local economy. Should we just be happy for the swarms?

23 comments:

JM said...

No.

dwg said...

Drunk for drunkssake adds nothing to a community. If this is the best a neighborhood has to offer we're in big trouble. This is now the East Village rep. Post-Sandy intoxication is not a positive sign.

abrod said...

I think violence should be justified at Ugly Sweater parties (or bar crawls in this case).

Hey19 said...

Im on vacation next weekend, and I am psyched about that, but I got much more psyched when I found out I would be out of town for Santacon.

Anonymous said...

Someone threw-up on my car this week. That's what I get for parking in front of Billy Hurricane's I guess.

Anonymous said...

Up until about 2-3 years ago when this ridiculous pub crawl started, one would've never imagined that there would be a bunch of a-hole 20-somethings walking around dressed like Santa and/or elfs getting stupid drunk in the East Village at Christmas time. It's absolutely laughable. I can only imagine the response back in the 80s or 90s. Back then if someone had posed this idea as a 'fun thing to do for the holidays' they would've been asked 'is there something wrong with you?' and then promptly got their heads handed to them. When you see these jerk-offs walking around now you would never think that at one time the East Village was inhabited by bands like The Ramones, The Dead Boys, and Television. The list goes on. The musicians, artists, and people of that era that actually stood for something, set the tone for the neighborhood that went on for at least three decades. That cycle is now over and in it's place we have a crowd of self-entitled dumb white kids dressed up like Santa for chrissakes pub-crawling. It's really a sad comment on the timeline of this neighborhood. At times like these you have to seriously ask yourself, is living in the city really worth it anymore?

nygrump said...

" is living in the city really worth it anymore?" It takes me 15 mins to get to work on the 6. That is almost the only reason. There are no gigs in the village anymore other than the Stone. But the boss told me he wants me to work from home and doesn't care where that is, so I'm really close to taking my tax paying job out of NYC and out of NY State due to the pro-drunk administration of Boozeburg, tax free Wyoming or NH sound pretty good these days, I'd get back 15% of my salary, I could buy a horse.

Anonymous said...

no we should not. i am a native ny'er and i have native ny friends who do santa con... although i think it's for herbs. and i actually come down pretty lenient where EV nightlife is concerned. but pub crawls are the lowest of the low. these jackasses are PLOWED drunk by 2-3pm and they act obnoxious/confrontational/worse both inside bars and out on the street. then the subway has to deal with them trying to get back to wherever the hell they live (or more likely penn station). there needs to be something done about them. maybe a permit to organize a group of more than 20 roving the city with the sole purpose of getting inebriated?

Lindsay said...

Oh no!! I booked my plane ticket a few days too late.
SANTAKHAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!

mk said...

Speaking from the bartender's point of view, these idiots do NOT create as much business as it appears. Typically, they are drunk before they arrive, they damage things, order a zillion (free) ice waters and tip very little. The hordes expect to be treated with reverence and behave with a "mob mentality."

No thank you.

John said...

The good old days of 1990 vs 2012

9th precinct crime stats

Murder 23 vs 1
Rape 41 vs 15
Robbery 1135 vs 159
Assault 539 vs 162
Burglary 1420 vs 175
Gr Larceny 2054 vs 716
Santacon 0 vs 1

Anonymous said...

@John
Strawman award for 2012.
Congrats!

Anonymous said...

I own several sweaters that others have called ugly in the past. I will probably be wearing one this weekend.

So often I'm a one man ugly sweater bar crawl (my crawl consisting of about two bars).

Barney said...

the forecast is predicting a Category 4 Shitshow, with a mandatory evacuation until it blows over

Anonymous said...

I am thinking of a counter Santa crawl made up my my 50-something friends. We tag along with these idiots try to talk to them and tell them how cool it is what they are doing and how all our middle aged friends want to join them from now on. This should put and end to the crawls for little while.

Anonymous said...

I imagine after a day of drinking, the Santas will stay in the neighborhood and shop at St. Mark's Books, have dinner at B&H or Stage and support independent cinema at the Anthology Film Archives.

Oh, I crack myself up.

Makeout said...

@ Anon 1:53- Nah.. remember drunk assholes just don't listen. Nice but a waste of effort.

Crazy Eddie said...

Defending the indefensible. BS Santacon boilerplate:

“Santacon is NOT a pub crawl! Everytime you call it that, a surgarplum fairy dies.”
“One aspect of SantaCon is the possibility of Santa getting a bit jolly. "Wasted Santa" spoils everyone's fun - don't be that santa. Read the guidelines on:
http://santacon.info/About.html

Laura Goggin Photography said...

I was out and about the Friday before this last Saturday and actually noted to myself that it was pleasantly quiet - the calm before the storm, I guess.

I've been in bars that have turned the Santas away, so it can be done.

Uncle Waltie said...

So now we all know where not to be tomorrow. I'll be at my usual hideaway. They wouldn't dare set foot in that place...would they?

Shawn said...

Goggla which bars are those?

Anonymous said...

Not good for business. I work in nightlife and my colleagues who own pubs in the area don't want this crowd. Said owners refuse to have drink specials or happy hours as those draw in these obnoxious groups, who indeed typically arrive drunk, order the cheapest rounds of shots, start fights, tip little (or nothing at all!), and create an unpleasant atmosphere for other patrons. When/if you open a bar or pub, you have to choose your customer base by the choice of atmosphere: frat house or civilized adults.

Anonymous said...

"There are no gigs in the village anymore other than the Stone."

If you mean music gigs, it's not quite that dark. There are other venues supporting creative live music in the area, like NuBlu, NuYorican, Jules (for jazz), Drom, Joe's Pub, and (although it's not quite East Village) Le Poisson Rouge. Of course, I'd be happy if there were more! I miss having CBGBs, Bottom Line, the Continental actually having live music, etc.

- East Villager