SantaCon unleashes its annual drunken sprawl tomorrow morning at 10 at Father Duffy Square, a section of Times Square on Seventh Avenue between 46th Street and 47th Street.
From there, the Santas will fan out to bars across the city, from Times Square and Chelsea to Gramercy Park and Union Square. The East Village will once again have a front-row seat for the red wave of store-bought Santa suits. Nearly a dozen EV bars are listed on the SantaCon
website as "SantaCon Charity Venues." Meanwhile, Solas on Ninth Street receives official designation as a "Special Santa Venue."
Other local bars will likely be taking part aside from those listed, including the 13th Step on Second Avenue, which seems to always have the longest line of Santas waiting to enter.
SantaCon was reportedly going to happen aboard several party boats in the Skyport Marina off of 23rd Street on the East River. However, NY Waterway
canceled the gig after local elected officials raised concerns.
In
a letter signed by City Councilmember Keith Powers, State Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assemblymember Harvey Epstein: "we have serious concerns about the disruption it is likely to create for those who live in and travel through the area."
Instead, the rest of the city will now bear the brunt of this disruption.
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Here are a few
Santa-free bars that I know about so far in the East Village ... please let me know of others... (to repeat: these are bars that are NOT letting in people in Santa costumes)...
-Double Down Saloon, 14 Avenue A
-dba, 41 First Ave.
-Sophie's, 507 E. Fifth St.
-Josie's, 520 E. Sixth St.
-Mona's, 224 Avenue B
-11th Street Bar, 510 E. 11th St.
-The Penny Farthing, 103 Third Ave.
-B-Side, 204 Avenue B
-Lucky, 168 Avenue B
-Drexler's, 9 Avenue A