Mrs Claus says: pull out the ole' sled & lets do it all over again on Dec 14! http://t.co/TWEBlkROLL http://t.co/9RSNY5AcVZ Happy Halloween
— santacon (@santacon) October 31, 2013
In case you missed the announcement this week... your favorite day of the year is now scheduled!
On Oct. 1, DNAinfo reported that a group of concerned Hell's Kitchen residents reached out to the event's anonymous organizers asking them to avoid their neighborhood ... and the SantaConners responded: "As far as us coming to Hell's Kitchen this year, you don't have anything to worry about."
Meanwhile, on Oct. 17, State Sen. Brad Hoylman sent the following letter to SantaCon organizers:
I am writing to express my concerns regarding SantaCon and the effects it has on the communities it visits. Each year local elected officials, community boards and local precincts are besieged by complaints as SantaCon passes through their neighborhoods.
While SantaCon may be a short-term boon to a select group of local businesses, the many adverse impacts it wreaks, such as vomiting in the streets, public urination, vandalism and littering, disrupt community members’ quality of life. I recognize that at any large event, a few bad actors may disrupt an otherwise orderly affair, but at previous SantaCons bad actors have hardly been the exception. As such, significantly more must be done to combat the neighborhood scourge SantaCon has become.
Further, no matter the behavior of the participants, the event has grown large enough to completely overwhelm sidewalks and public spaces, creating a public safety hazard for all.
I strongly urge you to work with the New York City Police Department in order to come up with a strong and effective plan to combat public intoxication and to ensure all participants are respectful of the neighborhoods they visit, as well as handling the overwhelming crowds associated with an event this size. In addition, I urge you make this plan available to the affected local Community Boards well in advance of your event so that they have time to comment and help shape it.
Sincerely, Brad Hoylman
CC: Community Boards 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 Precincts 1, 6, 9, 10, 13, 17, 20, Midtown South, and Midtown North
Word out of Community Board 3 is that no one from this neighborhood called 311 to complain about SantaCon. Hard to believe.
Previously on EV Grieve:
How was your SantaCon?
A few scenes from SantaCon 2012: Scourge of the city or good time had by all?
I don't understand why there isn't more of a police presence during this whole cluster f*ck.
ReplyDeletethere was a police presence--just not in East Village because of lack of complaints. Maybe people want to organize a complaint drive during santacon this year.
ReplyDeleteIt's how Ray Kelly and Co keep crime now.
ReplyDeleteIf they don't see it, it didn't happen. They don't care about us in the East Village. If they did it wouldn't be a violent, alcoholic zoo on the weekends.
It gets worse every year to the point that non-conners have to stay off the streets altogether. Will make sure to let 311 know that!
ReplyDeleteWhy don't the craft beer/bar/food/wine vendors rent a space somewhere and all the costumed revelers could go there and party?!
That way everyone benefits!
If they were people of color walking down the street you can be sure NYPD would be all over it.
ReplyDeletenot a bad idea, they should have this thing at some phony hipster super bowl central locale type place and keep all of these amateur kidults off the streets.
ReplyDeleteAnti-con!!
You don't have to 'stay off the streets altogether'. That's ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do not participate in this (i'm not much of a joiner and my belly would probably make it look like i wasn't wearing a fat suit), I enjoyed sitting at a bar with a friend and a window to the street to watch the mayhem (which was certainly not up to the levels that would be suggested in reading these posts). The same bar that i would have chosen if it was santacon or not. No adjustment to my plans.
To also note, I live on the first floor of an apt building directly across from a bar and yes, last night was louder than the night before and santacon will be louder than last night, but so be it.
The idea that this is a 'there goes the neighborhood' situation is ridiculous compared to what is going on with the infiltration of places like 7/11 and mega-walgreens and mega-anythings.
My battles are picked.
Yeah, 10:00 a.m., parking yourself at a bar all day "watching the mayhem"? Is the exact OPPOSITE of being on the streets.
ReplyDeleteMany of us have actual places to be that day. This event ruins mundane Saturday errand-running for residents, as it ruins just trying to take a peaceful walk/sit in the park, a trip to church, walking pets, or, god forbid, making one's way down the sidewalk with deliveries, laundry, musical instruments, strollers, etc.
But I guess it's nice that YOU have the luxury of sitting on your fat butt (sorry, but you brought it up) all day getting drunk at a non-Santacon bar laughing over this. Congratulations.
NYGrump is completely right that if this were an event with POC the police would be everywhere.
I ASKED
ReplyDeletewhy chelses could get it blocked but not us
SUSAN STETZER REPLIED:
People here didn't complain. Unfortunately
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
this was 10/1/13
@ 9:31 AM
ReplyDeleteAt least get your stereotypes correct.
No "hipster" would participate in SantaCon.
Also, some of the neighbors are: elderly, differently abled, less noise tolerant, have to get up at five a.m. for work, suffering from medical issues, etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteYo, SantaCon Javits Center! Huzzah!
How are these organizers allowed to be anonymous? Can't we get the NSA on this? When my group does something in the street, we're required to get permits, insurance, consult with NYPD, the CB, etc. I don't mind them having a day in my neighborhood to be a-holes, but they should be required to pay for it.
ReplyDeleteCould CB3 be anymore obtuse? Yeah, if no one complained to their treasured 311 system, then it clearly wasn't a problem. Good Lord! No one complains BECAUSE nothing results from complaining you morons!
ReplyDeleteIf CB #3 and Susan Shitzer said the sky was blue and the sun rose in the east I wouldn't believe 'em.
ReplyDeleteExactly. How are the organizers anonymous? Cowards. They're just trolls. Hurls a hit-and-run tactic to the neighborhoods.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine organizes the two-block Bastille Day day event in Tribeca and she told me that she has to get a permit from the city and contact NYPD months ahead so that they can assign and post two cops per block and pay a fee to NYPD/NYC to do so. I doubt that the organizers are doing this, since, Santacon is all over the place and no definite streets or neighborhoods they'll be hitting. And they let the taxpayers and community members pick-up the bill afterwards. If this was Occupy Wall Street, you'll have an entire squads and helicopters and white shirt officers hovering all over them.
As for CB3 not receiving complaints, they have very selective hearing. Of course they heard nothing. Stetzer, Palitz and Li -- the witches of EVwick -- are in cahoots with most of the bar owners.
Thanks for the head's up. I'll be doing whatever chores and errands I can before and skip out of town on this Satan day. You better watch out...
"You don't have to 'stay off the streets altogether'. That's ridiculous."
ReplyDeleteNo, it isn't. While out Christmas shopping with my mom we had our cab terrorized by a group of Santas who wanted it for themselves, ready to pull us out like zombies in search of flesh. They then threw a trashcan at it. Then later in front of my building Santa took his dick out and pissed on the middle of the sidewalk in front of my mother... who stated she's seen bigger. These are the stories she has to return home with when her friends ask her "How was your trip to New York."
There are plentry of cops at SantaCon, you just might not notice them in their bright red uniforms and fake white beards.
ReplyDeleteNYPD: To Protect and Swerve
I recall last year seeing a staggering santa on the sidewalk and a father with his small child passing by and the child was thrilled to see santa and the father was horrified and moved quickly as possible away. Not fan of mob mentality events especially those that leave pools of vomit, overturned trash and a urine stench.
ReplyDeleteSanta Con was a nightmare last year. It was terrifying and disgusting. I saw violence and vomit the moment I walked out the door and as far as I traveled. To call these revelers assholes would be an insult to anuses.
ReplyDeleteYou can hardly avoid it - last year we went out for brunch at 1030 on the santacon saturday and jackoffs were screaming obscenities at passers-by while drinking (wearing santa suits) on the balcony.
ReplyDeleteI guess we just all need to dial 311 early and often.
Although if its like my 311 calls complaining about Webster Hall blocking the sidewalk I will get exactly nothing.
I'm so done with this neighborhood
I went over to 311 to see if I could do something pre-emptive. Not easy. So, I went to the website contact for for the Mayor's office and posted the following:
ReplyDeleteDear Mayor Bloomberg, I am shocked to learn that according to CB3 there were no complaints to 311 about SantaCon last year from my neighborhood. I live on East 9th Street between 1st and Avenue A in Manhattan. This is a horrible event that seems to only get bigger every year, coinciding with further bars opening here. It is hard enough to live here already. We dont need an event of kids getting plastered and vomiting all over the place.
Put them all in the Javitz Center...and CARD THEM! I swear, most of the people staggering around the EV for the last several years look like they are 16.
ReplyDeleteThere were two different guys I saw standing in the street and pissing. Unfortunately, as far as I know, neither was hit by passing vehicles. This has got to be the most inane 'event'. I'm not a tee-totaler by any means, but I think anyone who goes out for the express purpose of getting bombed deserves anything that happens to him. I just keep my fingers crossed that he only destroys himself and doesn't take out anyone else on the way. Maybe some sterilizing drug could be put into all the booze served at SantaCon and St. Patrick's Day.
Time to form a moat-digging committee...
ReplyDelete"I've seen bigger."
ReplyDeleteI ♥ NOTORIOUS's Mom
I'll bet Empire Biscuits will be out of stock by 11am on Dec. 14!
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine if this SantaCon shit happened in the East Village circa 1978-79? The people would've had their retarded asses handed to them.
ReplyDeleteDear EV bar owners:
ReplyDeleteIf you have a "No SantaCon" sign and don't let them in, I will personally spend $10-20 at your bar that day and get my friends to do the same.
Dear EV neighbors:
Please support the "No SantaCon" bars on December 14th!
Shawn, if we had fewer bars, we'd be less of a target for SantaConners. I'd like it if some of these bars went belly up.
ReplyDeleteI invite all East Village residents to join me in what will come to be known as "Reverse Santacon." I will travel to Westchester early in the morning on 12/14, dressed in full Santa Claus regalia. I will then spend the day drinking to terrifying excess, vomiting the front lawns of that county's residents, picking fights, screaming at cab drivers, and generally giving these B&T humans a taste of their own medicine. IT'S TIME TO STRIKE BACK, PEOPLE. THESE CALLOUS SANTAS WILL RUE THE DAY THEY LEARNED OF SANTACON.
ReplyDeleteYou people, for the most part, are pathetic.
ReplyDeleteIf you think SantaCon ruins 'your' neighborhood, you are mistaken.
You actually have ruined the East Village. This area is known for its bars, clubs & so on. You want quiet, go back to Idaho.
And to the person who complains about Webster Hall, really? And I thought I heard it all.
I loathe these drunken brats as much as anyone, but to the several posters who make these ridiculous "if they were not white they could never get away with it", I invite you to witness the mayhem and mass criminality, to say nothing of drunkenness drug use and actual sex in the streets that is a longstanding part of both the WestIndian Parade in Brooklyn, and the PuertoRicanDay Parade uptown. In both these cases the locals literally try to leave town for the weekend, shopkeepers bring their steel gates down and lock them for the duration, etc. The NYPD is on a " hands-off" status to avoid complaints of cultural insensitivity. So please drop the tired old Sharptonite blame it on whitey routine.
ReplyDeleteThis area is known for its bars and clubs??? NO IT ISNT!! ROTFLMFAO. Maybe to your 20 something little existence that's been here for five minutes it has, but to the rest of us, we've never had a problem with bars like we do now.
ReplyDelete"You want quiet, go back to Idaho."
ReplyDeleteThis comment is meant to be sarcastic/ironic? Daily Show/Colbert Report/Onion like? Yes?
"For the love of God, Montresor!"
Yes, I know, quoting Poe past Halloween is not very fashionable.
For any self respecting bar establishment they will just put the No Santacon sign in the window. If you really want to make a difference ask your local bar to participate in No Santacon. Certain douchey bars...ehhemmm 13 Steps...court this mayhem and it will be expected there. While other places would rather the chill and orderly vibe that their regular patrons provide.
ReplyDeleteListen, almost everyone nowadays have cell phone that has a camera and video capabilities. I say take a pic and/or video of the naughty Santas wrecking havoc in the neighborhood, being disorderly -- vomiting, peeing, being all around obnoxious, and then post or submit them to the local precinct, community boards, social media sites or blogs or networks that one own. Shame and expose them and maybe an employer or potential employer would see who they hired or hiring. Plus, this would prove to Stetzer and her coven of this senselesness, regardless if they are willing to listen or look.
ReplyDeleteHey 8:25. I have lived here since the mid 1980s and when appropriate I will leave for good, esp. since I can and am looking forward to it. I volunteer in the community and have never had people complain about me being an asshole, waking them up, vomiting on them, etc. You meanwhile, apparently, must enjoy being an hat of ass, and will probably be a thorn in someone's side as long as you live.
ReplyDeleteThe city needs to make this into a contained event, like the Dance-a-thon at Javits. It could be productive and fun, and have a purpose other than getting so drunk that you pass out or puke all over the streets.