A SantaCon warm-up?

Noted

peter radley spotted this next to the entrance of the Sidewalk Café on East Sixth Street at Avenue A...



Not sure what pub crawl this was part of...

Woo: Lawmaker wants to curb fee-based pub crawls

The Post reports today that Democratic Assemblyman Micah Kellner has introduced "a bill that would pull the plug on pub crawls by yanking the liquor licenses of bars that promote the boozy block-by-block odysseys."

"It creates mayhem," Kellner said. “We’re not trying to legislate common sense. What we can legislate is licensed liquor establishments promoting and enabling dangerous behavior.”

According to the article, "his bill targets bars that sponsor organized pub crawls requiring a fee to participate. Informal gatherings among friends would not be outlawed."

The article includes the classic "if people don't want" quote:

“If people don’t want to live around nightlife they shouldn’t live in Manhattan,” said Kevin Barry, a 27-year-old Upper East Sider. “It’s incredibly shortsighted.”

Speaking of pub crawls, a reader asked us if we saw the pub crawl last night that featuring a group of bar-hopping thrill-seekers all holding onto a rope and wearing wigs on Avenue A. So sorry that we missed it. But someone must have photos.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Pub crawl ban brewing?

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?

PUB CRAWL ALERT

A reader sent this in via Facebook...

Saturday October 13th is the 3rd day of New York Comic Con. It also happens to be a damn good day to drink, eat, and generally party your way through the East Village.

How do we resolve the simultaneous occurrence of these 2 extraordinary events?

By throwing NYC's First COMIC CRAWL!

There will be food. There will be drinks. There will be mayhem. There will be Comics!
*There will NOT be blood.

Featuring many of the East Village's coolest spots.
- Idle Hands Bar
-Destination Bar
-Billy Hurricane's
-Mama's
-Alphabets
-Fresco Gelateria
-Liquiteria
-Professor Thom's
-Wechsler's Currywurst & Bratwurst
-Keybar
-La Lucha
-Otto's Shrunken Head
-Poco
-Jimmy's No. 43
-East Village Tavern
-Double Down Saloon

DNAinfo featured this pub crawl here.

Anyone else getting really tired of this kind of shit?

Woo, Beer Marathon

Photos via Dave on 7th.

Noted

A reader sends us the following... "It seems that the bar crawl/scavenger hunt trend continues, this time with an 'Olympic' theme on Sunday, July 29th."

"You sprint to catch the subway in the morning, jump hurdles at the office, and not-so-gracefully dive into bed at the close of the day — sounds like you're primed for the Olympic Scavenger Hunt, which starts in the East Village. With today's deal, pay $30 (regularly $60) to partake in this boozy, fun-filled event on July 29. Arrive decked out in costume (for extra points) at SideBAR or the Village Pourhouse downtown at noon to register, pick the country you want your team to represent, and have a libation. Then, begin your journey through Little Italy, Chinatown, Little India, and more, where you'll find hidden clues, solve riddles in foreign languages, and earn points. Best yet, you'll enjoy discounted, internationally themed drinks along the way at neighborhood bars, and conclude your excursion with an after-party at a secret location — just don't treat a tabletop as a podium."

Per the reader: "Hopefully the East Village/Little India portion of the day will be over early. Wishful thinking."


[Image via]

Noted

From the Village Pourhouse Facebook page:

What are YOU doing on Cinco de Mayo? If your answer remotely resembles "traveling to multiple downtown bars while drinking awesomely cheap tequila & beer specials and wearing a sombrero/mustache" then you belong with us at Village Pourhouse!

What's the over/under on Saturday, May 5 being more of a shitshow than Saturday, March 17?

Noted

From the EV Grieve inbox... a warning from a reader about a Living Social deal... in which 1,164 people have purchased tickets for this on Sunday afternoon...

This spring, grab a basket fit for a grown-up and join in an epic egg hunt for adults: Pay $30 for one ticket to the Scavenger Egg Hunt in the East Village (regularly $60). Arrive decked out in a costume (for extra points) at SideBAR at noon on April 1 to enjoy two complimentary drinks and some appetizers during team registration. Once the three-hour hunt begins, you'll hop through the East Village and surrounding areas, while solving riddles, answering trivia questions, and deciphering picture challenges to clues as to where the eggs and Easter bunny are hidden — not to mention a few golden eggs containing gift certificates. Enjoy drink specials at neighborhood bars along the way, and conclude the journey with an after-party at a secret location.

Other recent area pub crawls have included:

The Furry Vest pub crawl

The Ugly Sweater pub crawl

St. Patrick's Day ...

The Greenwich Village Spring Bar tour ...

The Halloween pub crawl and scavenger hunt ...

The Viking Helmet pub craw ...

The King of Pop Pub Crawl...

The Snuggie pub crawl ...

The rugby pub crawl ...

The Red Dress Run ...

East Village bars hosting first-ever Furry Vest Pub Crawl

Tomorrow, starting at 2.

Just when you thought it was safe to venture out again on a holiday Saturday...

If you can't make it early, then don't worry — drink specials run until 4 a.m.! Woo!

[Photo by Bobby Williams]

Pub crawl ban brewing?

Town & Village reports this week that Community Board 6 — which serves the east side, from 14th Street to 59th Street with hot spots like Murray Hill and Stuy Town — will discuss a possible ban on pub crawls. (The meeting is set for next Thursday.)

The article isn't online, though Lux Living scanned in the piece...

(You can read it at Lux Living here.)

One CB6 rep said that pub crawls "may be a lot of fun for the revelers, but they're not a lot of fun for the community." And — duh! — the problem with crawls? They too often lead to heavy crowding ... "with the result of excess noise and vomiting in the streets due to binge drinking."

Perhaps CB3 will consider such a ban? Some bar owners may not like it, but residents would...Meanwhile, please feel free to defend pub crawls.

Things that I was glad I didn't see

The Greenwich Village Spring Bar tour yesterday. Remnants spotted here on Seventh Street at Cooper Square.

The green plastic hat zone (Pub Crawl Alert!)

Pub Crawl alert this weekend!...and it's just not any ol' pub crawl... It's the Guinness Book of Records Largest Pub Crawl — a
five-mile, three-day long crawl starts that starts this afternoon, continues tomorrow morning into the pee wee hours and wraps up on St. Patrick's Day.

Whatever you want to do, fine... but do the rest of us really have to be unwilling participants in your bar-hopping hijinks? Do you have to take over the sidewalks and run in the streets, paying no mind that it might be, say, 2 p.m., and other people aren't really in the green zone?



The participating bars hereabouts are:

Identity Bar
511 E 6th St.

Company
242 East 10th St.

Central Bar
109 East 9th St.

12th Street Ale House
192 2nd Ave.

Village Pourhouse
64 3rd Ave.

Finnerty's Irish Pub
221 2nd Ave.

Kingshead Tavern
222 East 14th St.

BarNone
98 Third Ave.



If this sounds fun, then here's your info on how to join.

Speaking of which, betcha all this will keep EV Heave busy this weekend. Oh, and here's a belated weekend report from EV Heave. (DO NOT GO here unless you want to see you-know-what...)

Craigslist ad of the day: Santacon participants looking for a midget -- "all you gotta do is dress up, drink and have a good time"

Midgets for SantaCon Sat 12th (Manhattan)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2009-12-08, 1:35PM EST

We are a group of Santas attending SantaCon and would like to have one/many midgets or really short people dressed as elves hang out with us. If you fit these criteria please email us back: under 4'6', over 21, have an elf costume or something similar, can get to Manhattan Saturday early afternoon, have at least a couple of hours to drink with us, good sense of humor. We will provide all the necessities for the day (drinks, snacks, transportation (aka subway rides)), all you gotta do is dress up, drink and have a good time. Please serious inquiries only. Compensation is only in drinks (all the beer or well drinks you can handle, no Dom Perignon) and snacks (street meat, slice of pie etc.)

Dec 12th 10ish - 4pm or later if you want to rage all night with us.

Vikings continued to make ancestors proud during pub crawl

Thanks to OthelloNYC for providing the above photo on Avenue A from last Saturday's Viking pub crawl in the neighborhood. As Othello wrote, "You forgot about chanting 'Flight of the Valkyries,' and ending up being in an outdoor police lineup, and fun times like this."

Indeed.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The viking age: "They were grabbing people off the sidewalk and pulling them into their revelry of yo-ho! and woo-hoo!"

The viking age: "They were grabbing people off the sidewalk and pulling them into their revelry of yo-ho! and woo-hoo!"

We're getting several reports about a pub crawl from this past Saturday. One reader described it as "a roving birthday party." One in which everyone wore viking helmets.

Here's a reader-submitted photo....



Others were apparently swept up in the hoopla as well....



From another reader:

"At one point, after listening to waves of screaming crowds, i looked out to see dozens of douchebags wearing Viking helmets! They were grabbing people off the sidewalk and pulling them into their revelry of yo-ho! and woo-hoo!"

Noted

The whole city is pretty much a pub crawl this weekend, pub crawls aside. Anyway, if you are interested, here's a list of the 100 or so participating bars, including Bounce Deuce.

Noted

Red Dress Run XII is this Saturday afternoon...



Oh, don't know how to hash In New York City? The HashNYC Web site explains:

We r*n around the streets, alleys and parks of the NYC metro area in our never-ending quest for beer, food, good times and beer. Hashing . . . it's a mixture of athleticism and sociability, hedonism and hard work; a refreshing break from the nine-to-five routine. Hashing is an exhilaratingly fun combination of r*nning, orienteering, and partying, where bands of Harriers and Harriettes chase Hares on eight-to-ten kilometer-long trails through town, country, jungle, and desert, all in search of exercise, camaraderie, and good times.

Thanks to our old pal Esquared for this...

The Village Pourhouse turns three (though it feels longer)

On Sunday, the Village Pourhouse at Third Avenue and 11th Street celebrated its third anniversary...



...and on this occasion, VP introduced its new Take Out Window... (The window has been there for some time, though apparently was never put to use... )



Over the past three years, the Pourhouse has helped bring numerous cultural events to the East Village, including the Snuggie Pub Crawl, the King of Pop Pub Crawl, the Toga Pub Crawl, the Halloween Pub Crawl, the 11th Annual Luck of the Irish St Patrick’s Pub Crawl, the Halloween Hangover Pub Crawl, the Cinco de Mayo Pub Crawl, the Olympic Pub Crawl...

Never been to the place myself. So I went to Yelp to find out what the people think. A sampling of various reviews...

Two stars!

Yes, it's right next to the NYU dorms, so there's bound to be trashiness and other obnox-auchery going on.

Sure, the food and cheap beer will attract ditzy, but hot, girls and ditzy, fratty guys, all of whom at one point of the evening will be spilling drinks on you, stepping on you, or crotch spooning you or all of the above.

Whatever. (I, of all people, can appreciate any or all of these things.)

But really. Really? This place attracts the douchiest crowd ever.

That's the bottom line. It's not really about the place, or the set up, or anything like that. It's merely the fact that for some reason, 90% of the people who spend a majority of their night here, end up being really irritating, obnoxious, trashy drunks.

And honey, it's okay to be drunk and messy and sometimes funny - even when you're not trying to be --

But for goodness sake, this isn't Hoboken. Now stop crying about how your boyfriend doesn't love you and get away from this congregation of douchebags.

Three stars.

Strange but pretty girl walks up to me...moves her scarf, insists i look at her chest and asks if I like Kansas...

she is making her breasts jump up and down and I realize she is wearing a Jay Hawks shirt. I hardly notice cause all I see are breasts...I don't lie...I say, I didnt even know who the jay hawks were until just now but from what i see i'd gladly learn more about them...she starts talking...i hear womp womp womp, womp womp womp, womp womp womp womp...not in that order. I come out of my fog and realize, she is still talking...and i remember some of the womps as south dakota then kansas then dc then New York. Then she excuses herself to go talk to her friend...yay.

And four stars...

Friendly staff, lots of tv's showcasing a variety of sports, three large rooms, great owners, great beer selection, food is simple but executed well. This is a sports bar and it accomplishes its goal.

Atmosphere is a bit on the popped collar side but it's a sports bar, so the whole goal is to attract sports fans, and if you don't like watching sports, then don't go to a sports bar, which you will notice because of the trail of polo shirts that lead you through the door :)

There you have it! Meanwhile, I keep hearing womp womp womp, womp womp womp, womp womp womp womp...