Organizers have released the official route, which is not too different from last year's edition.
The official festivities begin at 10 a.m. on 40th Street and Broadway. Per the SC website: "Santa is Painting the town Red
We will be dancing in the streets and Santa will unleash a holiday celebration NYC has never imagined possible!"
A $15 "donation" gets your Santa Badge and access to 60-plus participating bars, mainly in Midtown West and East.
This year, eight of the bars are in the East Village:
• Amsterdam Billiards & Bar, 110 E. 11th St. at Fourth Avenue
• Bull McCabe's, 29 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue
• Coyote Ugly, 244 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue
• Doc Holliday's, 141 Avenue A at Ninth Street
• The Grayson, 16 First Ave. between First Street and Second Street
• Horseshoe Bar/7B, 108 Avenue B at Seventh Street
• The Phoenix, 447 E. 13th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue
• Solas, 232 E. Ninth St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue
However, as we've seen in previous Cons, bars not on the official list are often all too happy to participate, including the 13th Step on Second Avenue.
Shiny Galeani, an NYC SantaCon organizer, provided some damage control in a recent interview with Gothamist.
"Every year we get a lot of press that shines a negative light on SantaCon. I understand and certainly it'll get more clicks." But, she said, some of the coverage felt a little unfair, focused on specific incidents from a decade ago."People have all kinds of preconceived notions about what we are and why we do it," Galeani said. "A lot of it stems from bad press that we got a long time ago, and that’s a bummer."
And don't call it a pub crawl!
"It's definitely not a pub crawl because there is no order and you don't have to drink." Many bars, Galeani said, will serve mocktails. The biggest misunderstanding, of course — the one that goes beyond definitions and logistics — is that folks just don't get SantaCon.SantaCon is about "community and absurdity and the holiday spirit," said Galeani. She marveled at its ability to take over a place as big as New York City with sheer silliness. It is open to everyone.
Apparently, the MTA didn't get the "it's not a pub crawl" memo. The MTA is banning booze on LIRR and Metro-North Trains and stations for 32 Hours for SantaCon (from 4 a.m. Saturday to noon Sunday).
"Ho, Ho, Bro: How SantaCon Went From Joyful Performance Art to Reviled Bar Crawl"
ReplyDeleteby Meredith Hoffman
December 9, 2014
https://www.villagevoice.com/2014/12/09/ho-ho-bro-how-santacon-went-from-joyful-performance-art-to-reviled-bar-crawl/
Cringe every time I read a bro telling people they “just don’t get it”.
ReplyDeleteWe get it. The event sucks.
I came here to say exactly what 7:48 a.m. did. At this point, the vomiting Santabros are less obnoxious than the SantaCon reps who insist that we just don't understaaaand what SantaCon is about. Well, I understand that a grown person called "Shiny" has devoted part of their professional career to writing euphemistic press releases for a bunch of tristate trash with alcohol use disorders? So tired of this clownery.
ReplyDeleteYou will be absorbed. Your individuality will merge into the unity of good, and in your submergence into the common being of the body, you will find contentment, fulfillment. You will experience the absolute good.
ReplyDeleteGo out of town Dec 10th, check.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter what the official route is,we all know they come to our neighborhood to trash it every single year. It's beyond pathetic at this point, and resident should not have to flee their own community.
ReplyDeleteDon’t these ‘revelers’ get embarrassed?
ReplyDeleteRun
ReplyDeleteIs it safe to assume that "Santa" is still Jim Glaser of Kostume Kult and the charities he speaks of are all organizations he's affiliated with?
ReplyDeleteI work at a restaurant as a server and bartender on the LES. I always work Saturdays without fail, which of course is the busiest and most profitable day of the week. However, I requested if I could have my shift covered this year because of Santa Con. Thankfully, my boss found coverage. I've worked on this day for over a decade here in the EV and it never fails to destroy my senses and make me physically ill serving and dealing with many participants who are beyond drunk and belligerent. It is hell on earth navigating through SC while in hospitality. I cannot face another round of this event. I just cannot do it. I live near the bars and it is as everyone knows an absolute shit show of epic proportions. I feel for those of whom are working on this dreadful day. So, I will be happily sequestered for twenty four hours in my cozy, warm apartment, cooking, cuddling with my cat, drinking egg nog, and binge watching Dead to Me on Netflix.
ReplyDeleteTechnically, the Santa fight outside Joe Junior that was filmed & widely made the news was NINE years ago, not over a decade.
ReplyDeleteBut, yeah: everyone's complaining about problems from a long time ago and crowds at bars they do not like to visit anyway. It peaked years ago. It's not like Santacon takes over your favorite markets or diners. And, given the feedback here, most people (and many venues) in the East Village are not participating. I think it's going to be safe out there on Saturday.
At this point, the vomiting Santabros and the SantaCon reps who insist that we just don't understaaaand what SantaCon is about, are less obnoxious than the annual routine bitching ritual about it.
ReplyDeleteI want all the bars serving mocktails to these trash pandas in Santa suits to keep a tally of how many are actually ordered, the info to then be sent here to EV Grieve for publication. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI never understand why a classic spot like docs and 7B do this shit. I’m heading to support Phebe’s!
ReplyDelete"It's not like Santacon takes over your favorite markets or diners."
ReplyDeleteSome of us do kind of like to use 14th St. on Saturdays, though...
Pretty upsetting to see a gay bar like Phoenix be an official participant of SantaCon - won't be going there anymore ....
ReplyDelete"Shiny Galeani" needs to buy herself a MAJOR clue, b/c we who live here didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday. And anyone whose name is "Shiny" is already suspect in my eyes.
ReplyDelete"Many bars, Galeani said, will serve mocktails." Yeah, lady, now you're at below-zero credibility, b/c you've just said the dumbest shit I've heard in a long time. Yeah, sure, everyone's coming to NYC to drink Shirley Temples. NOT.
Fuck yes, it's a BAR CRAWL ... full of alkies who need to crawl (and vomit) from place to place to supposedly celebrate the birth of Christ, and theoretically they're doing it to support a "charity". Ask any of them the name of the charity, and what it does. (The charity, IMO, is likely the organizer's bank account. I'd like to see that "charity" get heavily AUDITED by the city and state, going back many years, b/c as we know from Trump's "charity", charities that *lie* are not treated with kid gloves by the authorities.)
If you wanna see mindless bridge-and-tunnel sheep getting plastered, just check the East Village this Saturday. They'll be baaa-rfing all over the place.
@ anon 10:37 - That sounds like a perfect day you have planned :)
ReplyDelete@10:37 - Dead to Me is a great show, and season 3 is really heartfelt, considering what Christina Applegate went through to get it done. Your day sounds like time well spent!
ReplyDeleteI won’t be in the city that day but really bummed to see that 7B would host this mess
ReplyDeleteIt’s one of my favorite bars
@9:37 AM: "Don’t these ‘revelers’ get embarrassed?" I think they're too drunk to be embarrassed OR to know how embarrassed they should be. I'm sure TikTok will be filled with their antics - which they will somehow be proud of.
ReplyDeleteI always wish the families of these jerks could be made to watch what goes on here...not in cute & edited videos, but in disgusting real-time.
don't people get tired of the same crappy whining---year after year ?
ReplyDeleteLike it or not SantaCon brings in a lot of money to the LES/EV bars that host the event and many of those places have been hurting since the pandemic. So, the event does have some benefit plus it is fun to watch all the guys in Santa outfits and the attractive women in Elve costumes having a drunken good time on the streets and sidewalks of the LES/EV. It is only for one day and does not cause much of a problem as long as you can avoid the crowds and long lines of the SantaCon participants who are trying to get into select bars that will serve them.
ReplyDeleteThe city should close some streets to accommodate the crowds instead of ignoring them and let them overtake the sidewalks
ReplyDelete@3:05pm: If EV bars *need* this money to survive, then they have a terrible business model. And BTW, I don't at all buy the idea that this ONE day is what allows the participating bars to survive!
ReplyDeleteYou write: "plus it is fun to watch all the guys in Santa outfits and the attractive women in Elve costumes having a drunken good time on the streets and sidewalks of the LES/EV":
First, that is a disgustingly sexist comment about women. Second, IMO anyone who finds watching costumed people having a "drunken good time" to be "fun" is more pathetic than I can comprehend - or maybe that person is one of the organizers of this event, attempting to justify its existence.
They should move it all to Randall"s. Keep the tents they put up for the migrants, set up pop-up drink and snack stands and recoup the money lost on the tents. Bus the hoards to Randall's and they can use the WiFi to ask their parents for more money. When they get blackout drunk they can pass out on the cots and when they throw up on themselves they can use the laundry to wash their clothes. Win-win.
ReplyDeleteHide your kids. Hide your wife.
ReplyDeletePrecisely why we need a military draft. Send these clowns to Ukraine, since most of them are waving the blu/yello flag out of costume.
ReplyDeleteSomehow so many folks with student loans have plenty of money for weekly bar visits, SantaCon etc.
ReplyDelete(Yes know this is for real)
I thought Doc’s had a “no bar crawl” policy?
ReplyDeleteI don’t mind that bars will get business. I do mind having to get past drunken hordes on the sidewalk if you hit the wrong block at the wrong time. There’s also the aspect of having to step around the piss and vomit…
ReplyDeleteLet’s not forget that some of the reason the bad SantaCon memories are older is because the past two years would’ve been a bit more subdued (well, nonexistent in 2020). Given almost nobody cares about the virus this winter, I’m pretty sure we’ll be back up to full strength. Plenty of opportunity for fights in the streets and bjs in the aisles (I think that was in the Last Week Tonight episode?).
This is one of the stupidest money making concepts in our city’s history. An epic pub crawl filled with drunken adult children who can’t handle their liquor or growing up. The influx of college kid’s from outside this city in ridiculous numbers as universities became a business is how this started. Frat/boy day drinking was never a think in this city, never seen as cool. As a native it never would have crossed my mind to celebrate Christmas by starting to drink at 10A, be drunk by 3P, pissing and puking on city streets by 4P, trash a street corner with my pizza dinner by 6P, and be home by 7P, taking turns with my bros spewing out guts up in a toilet. Sounds like community fun we’d could have never imagined.
ReplyDeleteFrom "NOTORIUS":
ReplyDelete"Is it safe to assume that "Santa" is still Jim Glaser of Kostume Kult and the charities he speaks of are all organizations he's affiliated with?"
Yes. My post from this 12/7/2015 EV Grieve SantaCon thread:
"Edmund Dunn said...
“To Whom It May Concern:”
"WTF? Are our politicians living in a digital media cave? They and their staff should know that due to the investigation prowess of posters here and at the Bowery Boogie blog that the A # 1Douchebag for this Bromageddon is Jim Glaser who was thrown off the Board of Figment-ART! ART! ART! ART!- NYC last year. BTW, Figment NYC also has a major interest in this shitshow."
https://evgrieve.com/2015/12/politicos-still-calling-on-santacon-to.html
I live on 7th St. In 2019, I was finally arriving home from my shift at the restaurant I worked at, where I had been inundated with drunken, entitled Santas, some of whom were so drunk, they didn't leave gratuities. I just couldn't wait to return home. As I approached the door to my building, I witnessed a huge fight with four Santa's who were blocking access. I was unable to get in and witnessed as their argument grew louder as they screamed at one another. I didn't know what to do but wait as it got physical. One punch was thrown and the next. This went on for a couple of minutes, but I was so over them and the entire event. Luckily, the NYPD arrived and they quickly ran. When I made it to the top of the stairs to the main door, I was met with a big puddle of vomit up and down the stairs and an abandoned Santa hat and belt on top of it. The stench and site was horrific. I was speechless. Who behaves like this? Animals? This is why I detest this day. I don't care if others on this thread lament how many people such as myself complain endlessly about this. I realize this is just one day, but residents like us have to live with the chaos and the aftermath the day after. I pay my taxes, my bills, and my exorbitant rent. I will complain as much as I want. Santa Con! The most dreadful day of the year in NYC.
ReplyDeleteHere's an interesting tidbit from the blog w42st.com on Santa Con:
ReplyDelete"Galeani and a man only identified as “Santa” told Gothamist that since the organization incorporated itself as a 501(c)(3) in 2012, it had given away $900,000 to local charities including City Harvest, Neighbors Together, Materials for Arts and Dance Parade."
Reference: https://w42st.com/post/guide-to-santacon-2022-saturday-hells-kitchen/
I would really love NYS or NYC to investigate SantaCon's ongoing claim to be a registered "charity". 501(c)(3) charities are required to file with the IRS, specifically a Form 990 - which is a publicly available document.
Vox.com said in a 2015 article: "But SantaCon's probably not best characterized as a charitable event."
Reference: https://www.vox.com/2015/12/22/10640590/santacon
I'm waiting for anyone (including the SantaCON organizers) to provide proof that they are actually a 501(c)(3) legit organization. Otherwise, IMO, they are blowing smoke.
@8:41am: 100% agree with you. These people have no self-respect, it seems to me.
ReplyDeleteI would have been totally ashamed of myself if I'd ever taken part in anything so vile AND so completely at odds with the spirit of Christmas as Santacon. I never felt the need to get piss-drunk to celebrate *any* holiday.
Has there even been a bigger War on Christmas than SantaCon? Every year I watch as bewildered young children being led away by their parents stare back at all the loud, drunken Santas, suddenly realizing there is no Santa Claus, or if there is he’s a miserable drunken fool, and much younger than in all the pictures. Once Upon a Time, SantaCon was an ironic and humorous event, but like everything that becomes much too popular, it was ruined by the asses who are the masses.
ReplyDeleteI worked with people (in their 30s) who did this for years. They'd meet at the main rendezvous point in the morning then have a drink nearby and be home by noon. They swore up and down this part was fun and festive, unlike what we see down here. What I've seen from my neighbors in the adjacent building, they booze it up in their apartments or rooftops starting early and go to the ev bars. They don't bother meeting up with other Santas in midtown or wherever.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Santa Con could be relegated to the sports stadiums here where all the proceeds go to a legitimate charity such as UNICEF where people like us who live here aren't terrorized by a bunch of drunken twits who can't control their liquor and mind their manners? They can drink as much as they want in a safe, contained environment.
ReplyDelete@Giovanni: "the asses who are the masses" sums it up perfectly.
ReplyDeleteNow imagine any of these revelers being your lawyer, your doctor, your nurse, your pharmacist, your children's teacher, the cable installer, or a customer service representative... you can see why the future will be full of incompetence and low standards.
LMAO "... and many of those places have been hurting since the pandemic" this same tired bullshit line.
ReplyDeleteOnce restaurants got all the funding approved they were in the same boat as everyone else and have had years of free rent on public space, Enough with the restaurants are suffering BS.
If you really want to see how pathetic the assess who are masses really are, there’s a twitter user named @kennynyc2002 who has videos of the opening ceremony near Times Square. It features an out of tune Mariah Carey wannabe attempting to sing All I Want For Christmas. The crowd is much older and more sad looking than in past years, and looks like a cross between the people who line up for sales at Burlington Coat Factory and those who stormed the Capitol on January 6th.
ReplyDelete