A few scenes from SantaCon today in the East Village... Derek Berg took these photos...
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A reader shared this from Second Avenue at Ninth Street outside the Step (former 13th Step), which, as always, seemed to be the center for SantaCon (even if it wasn't on the list on SantaCon bars) ...
... and EVG reader Sonya shared this from the
Updated 12/9
A reader shared this photo from yesterday on Second Avenue and 15th Street ... some Santas in an Uber headed to East Village bars, but not before making a pit stop...
Another sick Santa on Second Avenue near Ninth Street...
[Photo via @mishamc]
There are several reports of fights and assaults on the Citizen app from yesterday, though only one specifically mentioned Santas...
Not sure of the exact location of this street brawl...
IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR pic.twitter.com/9kzVBGQFC9
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) December 9, 2018
24 comments:
If you're drunk & blocking the whole sidewalk, I'm not getting out of YOUR way. I bumped into a few drunken bro's and ho's (didn't knock anyone over) and left them wondering what happened. I never even looked back for a second.
If you enjoy being staggering-drunk in public in broad daylight, stay home & inflict it on your own neighborhood next time!
I'm sitting in a restaurant on 3rd ave, eating my meal and then I get harrassed by 6 morons in santa "con" suits. Why do I, as a resident, have to put up with this crap and yearly assault on my neighborhood, by these roving gangs of drunken suburban a$$holes, who only come into the city to defecate on it and its residents. When is there going to be enough public outrage to ban this.and these kinds of rowdy "events"? How can this be practically done?
And why isn't the Mayor doing anything about this?
@2:29am: They get away with this b/c the mayor is a roll-over-and-play-dead ZERO of a person.
Next year, the STARTING POINT for santacon should be Gracie Mansion, with a promise of free drinks for the first 500 "guests"; THAT might get some attention from De Blahhhhsio.
I don't understand how promoting binge drinking in the name of "Christmas" is allowed to go unfettered. Maybe next year I'll have stickers made up that I can put on the back of every faux-santa bro & ho I see ... something that says "In training for liver failure".
And wow, I am amazed at all the media outlets who parrot the idea that this shitshow "raises money for charity" when it seems pretty evident that this is an outright lie (unless you consider bar owners to be a "charity"). I'd love to see some ACTUAL journalism on this fraudulent claim.
And to all of yesterday's fucked-up attendees: I hope you're home with the worst hangover you've ever had, and I hope you get the flu on top of that, and I hope you've damaged your liver. (I already know you've damaged your brain, if you ever had a usable one.)
Santacon is a GREAT argument for bringing back compulsory military service for ALL young people (men and women!), b/c it's clear that we have now raised several generations of Americans whose idea of "sacrifice" is that their cell phone doesn't get good reception sometimes.
It enrages me that anyone would think this is an OK event to which a bring a dog.
Charles, Santacon is a shadowy organization started by a guy named Jim Glaser, who used to head up a creative public event company called Figment. Glaser cannot seem to let go of the fact that his baby, Santacon, is no longer a hippy-dippy, colorfully costumed crowd of merry pranksters, but an often violent display of extreme intoxication. He is, in a word, delusional. One can only assume that this is because he profits from Santacon, which he also insists is a charitable event, albeit one whose charitable donations cannot be tracked in any way. (Note, Figment is still going—Glaser was let go from there once his Santacon connection came to light—and Figment is adamant that it has nothing whatsoever to do with Santacon.)
I don't know why the mayor does nothing about this event, at the very least subjecting it to the same crowd control and permitting as other large-scale gatherings and parades. Say what one will about "bridge and tunnel" people, but the LIRR, NJ Transit, and Metro North all put down a 24-hour drinking ban for passengers during Santacon, which is a hell of a lot more than anyone in charge here in NYC seems to be doing.
The whole thing is shady af. Last year Grieve reported on a bar owner who had a pack of destructive Santas cause $5,000 in damages to his establishment, and there were no arrests, and the bar owner was weirdly OK with it, even commenting here about the exemplary job the NYPD did in not protecting his bar or finding the perpetrators.
Nothing about Santacon makes sense. Some day someone will blow this whole story apart.
As always, I am grateful I didn't have to be anywhere yesterday. I remained in my apartment for a full twenty four hours until this morning. I happily binged watched Netflix and cooked. A peaceful respite from the shit storm outside. I refuse to even be on the streets when this fiasco hits town. I've learned my lesson from past experiences of being pushed and screamed at for walking and minding my own business. Go figure. For the most part, you can't reason with these drunken, unsophisticated idiots whom somehow believe they have license to terrorize and take over our beloved neighborhood. I also fail to understand the allure or significance of this day. What does it represent? Why should we care? And why do any of us have to put up with the enormous interference? Not me. So glad it is over. Deep breathe. Exhale :)
These photos all make SantaCon look festive and fun which it's not for residents who have to endure the drunk shouting, screaming vomiting and urinating between cars and against buildings. Where are those pix?
think---need to stop covering/publicizing this s+++show---we are aware and just stay away:)
Everyone hates on this event, but obviously it's a net positive. The kids look like they're having a great time, it's generally in good fun, and the public-puking outliers are to be expected in any group of a given size. People need to lighten up.
I think you missed some of the most notable pics, I thought about taking some, but decided it might be publicizing the event to do so- but I did witness a guy running down the street with a gallon of vodka, a girl in front of me literally fall down drunk in the street, some Dad trying to explain the drunk santa to his daughter, and countless santas with open containers staggering straight through traffic on 1st Ave, causing many cars to honk incessantly until at least 2am, and at least one fender bender from cars trying to avoid hitting the crowds.
I for one was thankful for Santacon this year. Never has drinking seemed so unfun. I decided yesterday at the peak of it to stop drinking. So yeah, thanks for that.
Is that Dick Shea in photo #12 ? He IS Santa. Legit.
5:30 PM First Avenue and 9th, right in the crosswalk, two guys in a car at a red light, and two male Santaconners walked by and for some reason one of them tells the driver in the car, suck my di*k as**ole. The guy in the car and his friend jump out and start screaming I'll suck your di*k as**ole, and move towards the guy. One of the Santaconners shouts back at the guy, when the smaller of the two steps in the middle, the driver pushes him. He's so drunk that he crashes to the ground. The driver heads back to the car with his friend, and it seems like it's all over. Till the Santaconner on the ground gets up and starts kicking and punching the car. The driver gets out again, they square off, he lands a few punches and the Santaconner goes down again. The guy goes back to his car. The Santaconner gets up again, attacks the car again. The guy gets out again. this time lands more punches, such that the Santaconner stays down. The two guys get in the car and drive away. Meanwhile, the guy who started the whole thing by telling the driver to suck his di*k, called the cops, saying his friend was being assaulted. They then left the scene and by the time the cops showed up everyone was gone.
If you throw up while you’re riding in an Uber, do they charge you purge pricing?
For whatever it's worth... whether it was the cold or Hanukkah, I thought Santacon was a lot tamer than most years.
But as for the official response from the city...the Mayor wants this to happen. New York is FUN! Hip! With it! And it brings in business. The cost of doing business is so high(rent/taxes/fees) that this is a way of recouping some money. Our illustrious community board does the same thing: approve every bar, every outdoor cafe to offset the cost of doing business in New York. And we still pay the highest taxes in the country! WOW!!
This is a money making event for alcohol providers. Young people want to drink in the city so that they don't need to drive. Plus they have more of a chance to get randomly laid. And there are a good number of urgent care centers in case you get alcohol loisoning. End of story.
I ate lunch at Chipotle on 14th Street near Union Square yesterday, and the place was full of obnoxious SantaCon attendees. Most of them were in there to use the bathroom, which made it impossible for paying customers to use it, unless they wanted to wait in line forever. I felt so sorry for the security guard. At point, he asked a group of Santas to move away from the soda machines. They were standing there blocking access for other paying who wanted to fill their soda cups. They were all white, of course, and one of the dudes talked back to the security guard, a person of color who was just trying to do his job. The disrespect they have for all of us is infuriating.
And where's the Night Mayor -- Ariel "I'm too sexy for Blackbook" Palitz -- on this? Oh right, being the Santaconners elf and partying with the bar owners.
Stop patronizing EV bars that host santacon. Horseshoe, Pinks, Owl, etc.
@5:12 lol, adding the race of those involved was wholly unnecessary for that story.
I think race IS significant here; it's white privilege on full display. If this event consisted mainly of PoC, I don't think it would be allowed to happen at all.
Santa Con is a stupid event thought up by stupid people for people who are even more stupid then they are. The only winners on Santa Con day are the alcohol vendors who make more in one day than they do in 3 months at the cost of antagonizing the residents surrounding their establishments. To those of you who participate in promoting, enabling, serving or imbibing on this most moronic event ever thought up, I suggest a long hard look in the mirror. What do you see?
The vast majority of participants are white, the bar owners and distributors are white, and the most of the police who dont arrest them for fighting and wreaking havoc in the street are white, so how is it not relevant to mention their race? Or is it only Ok when the perpetrator or Latino?
Here’s a nce SantaCon fight on Union Square at University place a couple years back. Santon Fight on Union Square
Here’s a SantaCon fight that spilled into the street, and right into traffic: It was a bloody mess.
And who can forget the SantaConners who rudely mocked the Black Lives Matter marchers a few years ago, and said that the march bothered them and that black people just needed to get over it,
Notice that like the Chipotle incident noted above, everyone in these videos is white. This issue is about privilege, itls about showing a basic level of respect for others, especially those of us who call this home.
Every year, too many local bar owners prove they care more about the money than about their neighborhhod. Without these bars, this event would not exist because it’s not about charity, it’s all about getting drunk in public in a Santa outfit and acting as rowdy as you please. This has got to end.
Ah alcohol, the cause of--and solution to--all of life's problems.
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