It's Time For SantaCon To Stop

(Andrew Hyde via Buzzfeed)

That's it, we've had it with SantaCon. Over the years, this annual drunken shitshow has steadily devolved from cleverly subversive to barely tolerable to "time to lock yourself in your apartment for the day." Is it just us or was this year's SantaCon even more obnoxiously fratastic than usual? Gothamist photographer Katie Sokoler was grabbed and kissed (against her will) by a drunk man dressed as a Christmas tree, and she also witnessed inebriated Santas falling onto terrified children on the subway train. Meanwhile, a group of intoxicated Santas on Houston Street deliberately knocked over a disabled man with a cane.

The victim, who would only give us his first name, Rafael, walks with a cane because of a drunk driving accident. In an email followup, he told us:

I was walking down Houston in the blistering cold with a cane when all of a sudden I see an idiot dressed as Santa literally pushing strangers left & right. His obviously obliterated friends were laughing alongside with him but not participating in the pushing. I think to myself "he better not even dare" before Santa (wreaking of alcohol & a heavy duty physique) literally grabs my jacket and pushes me to the ground. Due to the fact that I'm literally 100 pounds, I flew down under, with enough reflex to not bash my head on the ground.

Then there's the revolting incident witnessed by local college student Brandon LeBlanc, who saw Santa vomit on a couple who were not participating in SantaCon:

It had to have been about 1 p.m. and I just got off the 6 train at the Brooklyn Bridge City Hall station. Immediately I noticed something was off when I saw a small group of Santas carrying on and singing Christmas carols. Initially I thought it was cute and that it was part of some flash mob or something, but nothing could prepare me for what I saw next. I turned and was greeted by an obviously drunk Santa who was stumbling and audibly harassing a young couple who were sitting waiting for a train. In traditional hobo fashion he was drinking what appeared to be a MD 20/20 from a brown paper bag, curious, I stayed to watch. He began staggering closer and closer to the now obviously agitated young couple who was trying to ignore them. As he staggered closer his mumbling grew louder and angrier, until he fell head first towards the wooden bench.
He landed in between the couple and hit the bench hard directly on his stomach, and in one fluid motion vomited in what can only be described in an explosion. It was literally a miniature puke fountain. The girl handed the guy napkins and he wiped his shoes and leg.

And James Quinn, a bartender on the Lower East Side, says his SantaCon "highlight" came when a mom dressed as a "sexy Santa" ordered drinks with a one-year-old baby and had the baby dance around the bar in a Santa hat. "She thanked us for letting her in with her child since the strip club won't let her in with the baby," Quinn tells us, adding that "the most disconcerting thing about SantaCon is that thousands and thousands of people dress up as the same thing so not a single one of them is liable for what another Santa does."

Exactly. The NYPD press office would not tell us if there were any SantaCon-related arrests yesterday, but we'd love to see the cops assigned to the SantaCon detail demonstrate some of the zeal they've shown for cracking skulls at Occupy Wall Street. We don't care how many cans of food the Santas donated, it's time for this boorish parade of conformity to be banished to the same circle of hell that awaits The Santa Clause star Tim Allen. And take the No Pants Subway ride with them!

Additional reporting by Bethany O'Grady

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in Arts & Entertainment on December 12, 2011 4:02 PM

Comments [rss]

BlanchardGordon96

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apple jax

Every baseball, football, hockey and basketball game both in person and televised = obnoxious drunken douche violent belligerent spectators. Solution: End all sporting events.

apple jax

youre a christmas hating bah humbug grinch douche. Do you hate st pattys day? cinco de mayo?new years eve? far bigger, just as drunk with no creativity and less fun. Santa says fuck you, coal in your stocking.

Shannon E. Kennedy

This was my ... 7th year participating in Santacon. I always viewed it as a costuming event. A chance to express yourself with other likeminded people and hoped for, more and more, Burners! This year was a total bust. I was a zombiefied Santa, with a fabulous handmade wig tweaked with teenie tiny mice... this year.. Santa's didn't bond with other Santa's .. Santa's were drunk and simple minded. We ended up breaking free and forming our own partAy... we entertained the tourists in time square and they were grateful. THAT was fun.

aktobk

the only difference between the negative events of santacon and the regular events that take place in the bar scene in manhattan is that at santacon, everyones wearing red so its easier to see. "omg but it happens durin ze day to!" ya well it also happens every damned weekend in the village. so i guess we better close all the bars down huh. bleh.

Phinny Bayle

I can't get through half this article or half these comments without hearing a bunch of 90yr old grandmas whining and crying about stuff younger people do. My god what a bunch of crotchety, cranky, whining old bitches you are. Such an obvious example of an editor using their pen to do what the rest of us are happy doing with friends at a bar after work... whining and crying about shit that isn't really a big deal. People have fun at Santa Con, I did the whole thing sober, and I had a blast. Take your tears, and call your mom, and the two of you can moan and whimper about how kids in your day were more respectful, and wonder "oy what is this world coming to?" Me... I'll be getting some sugar.. cookies with the hot ms. clause in a red skirt and goose bumps. Remember what that's like old man?!

MurphGuide

classic example of a few thousand drunks ruining it for everybody else

austinscottbrooks

It's really sad that SantaCon has turned into this. I will confess that I did have a lot of fun watching all the Santas this year as I always do. SantaCon has definitely become one of my favorite Off-Beat Holiday Events but with incidents like these, I can understand opposition.

nomadnewyork

I hate Santa Con and I lock myself into my apartment on Santa Con day while my kids go out and frolic, much to my personal shame.

Not all Santa's should be held responsible for the bad behavior of a handful of bad Santa's. Obviously, we need increased police presence on Santa Con days, message board where the police can complain about having to police the animal Santas, Santa pens to keep the Santas in Free Santa Zones and rules about Santas being allowed to bring their sacks of toys into public parks.

Also, Bad Santa's should be pepper sprayed.

Kevin Bracken

Have you forgotten that a dozen bars pledged part of their proceeds to Toys for Tots?

UserNom

this is my 3rd year going to Santacon and I think it depends on the group you go with. if youre a bunch of shitbag jersey/LI trash...then yeah..youre going to act like it. but youre going to act like it on any Saturday when youre drinking..so just b/c you have a santa costume on doesnt make it any worse. I witnessed some pretty cool stuff this weekend, carroling, people helping old ladies cross the street, giving candy to kids after asking the parents etc. There are a ton of negatives with Santacon but there's also a ton of good. In my subway car from Fulton & Bwy to GC, everyone made sure that the regular folks werent bothered and even ushered away the drunken dolts from them. Not to mention, when idiots started jumping on cars on Stone Street, the rest of the crowd pulled them off or chanted "asshole" at them, and they quickly got the point. dont crucify the event bc of a bunch of drunken idiots.

BPlease

I like how on your douchey planet, only B&T types pull this shit, group chants solve things, and 'tons of negatives' are somehow canceled by 'tons of good.' Shut up, stupid.

UserNom

who said anything about cancelling out? the fact is that it's not all negative and people can legitimately go out without being belligerent messes. those same idiots that everyone is griping about are idiots the other 364 days of the year.

groovehoops

There are so many ways I want to respond to this opinion piece, this is this most direct response I can give: http://j.mp/santacon2011torf

PSX Boy

This was my first SantaCon & I saw none of this "bad Santa" behavior the entire 12 hours I was there. The worst thing I saw was one Santa that had passed out on a couch in a bar in midtown around 8pm. But overall it seemed like everyone was having a good time, Santas & non-Santas alike. The bars were so packed that it took forever just to get from the door to the bar to order a drink & by the time you were done with it it was time to move on to the next place - I think I managed to get in 4 drinks over the entire 12 hours. I spent most of the time walking through the streets singing carols & handing out candy canes to kids. My group was stopped multiple times throughout the day by bystanders asking what was going on, but they were all genuinely happy about it. And the fact that there were exactly zero SantaCon-related arrests in NYC (http://www.nydailynews.com/new... ) should go to show you how few & far between these bad Santas actually were. Stop harping on the few bad apples and appreciate all the good, well-mannered Santas that were helping to spread a little holiday cheer.

Roark

Circle of life

New Idea
Slow beginning
Gaining steam
Party Time
Fun for all
Cheer and joy
More People
Debauchery expands
Vomiting in the streets
Too many too many too many
Fucking people
Now
Here comes the hate

it's a beautiful thing really
Humans acting like
Humans
From the Santas to the Cynics

Kevin Bracken

I suppose my pillow fight is next on your hatchet list, John?

Gwinny

I did the pillow fight once and found it way too violent -- no joke. Lots of teenage boys hitting WAY too hard and shoving people. It was worse than the mosh pit I once found myself in at a Ramones concert. I'm not trying to stop your event though, I just won't go anymore. I like the Bubble Battle better.

J_12

There is an amazing amount of bitterness here.

The point of Santa Con is for people to put on costumes, get drunk, and act like idiots. Most of the criticism here amounts to sour grapes because Santa Con has become too successful in achieving its goals. If you don't like it, just stay away from it (that's what I do) but don't pretend that it is some kind of blight on the city.

Yes, Santa Con attracts a fair share of douchebags and meatheads, and encourages some anti-social behavior, but look around and you will see things just as bad on St. Patricks Day, New Years Eve, the Puerto Rican Day parade, the godawful San Genarro festival, many Yankees home games (god forbid they should win the world series ...), and in fact many average weekend nights in the greater NYU area or around Bedford Ave in Williamsburg.

BPlease

You forgot to imperiously tell people to just move out of NYC if they can't handle it. Be sure to edit, won't you.

Georgie Caldwell

Hey @Gothamist, remember when you posted all those pictures on Sunday of SantaCon and called it The Jollying? I may have drank a lot but not all Santas were Bad Santas. Remember there are those who keep the spirit by singing loud for all to hear (and catch a cab home when the Reindeer Games are over).

FutureMan

1. It was not "blistering cold" on Saturday. It was actually nice and temperate.

2. 1 year old babies cannot "dance".

Over the River

I think we need to establish a controversial Facebook group called "No SantaCon". It worked for others...

Ian MacAllen

On the other hand, while you've chosen to highlight a few of the worst examples of this event, you've also missed the vast majority of people who weren't acting like douchebags, who showed some creative inventiveness (Homemade LEGO Santa, for instance), and who were generally well behaved.

This sounds like someone didn't get invited to the party.

Or, put another way, let's compare coverage of SantaCon to the Brooklyn waterfront concerts where there is the same sort of drunkenness, public urination and lewdness. Gothamist wrote: "plus, out of the 8,760 hours in the year, how many hours of this are the residents actually dealing with? 60?"
http://gothamist.com/2011/10/0...

So maybe you should be asking, out of 8,760 hours in the year, how many are residents actually dealing with SantaCon? 12?

BPlease

Yeah! And screw that dude with a cane!!! There were millions of NYC pedestrians who *didn't* get assaulted!!!

bbmcrae

Funny, because I saw hordes of drunk, douche-y Santas that day, though apparently I missed the single high-handed, weirdly defensive one flailing at making a useless point.

birdtird

"someone didn't get invited to the party"?.. yes, if you live anywhere outside the tri-state area you were not welcome this year

"creative"?..there's not much creative about dressing in uniform for a non holiday in order to stew in alcohol all day

i hate your logic ian, even if mine sucks, yours sucks more.

Ian MacAllen

On one hand, the Gothamist staff is condemning a bunch of folks for getting together and spending the afternoon drinking because a small percentage of participants misbehaved.

And yet six months earlier the same publication is making fun of the people living out in Brooklyn who were getting upset by a bunch of folks getting together and spending the afternoon drinking because a small percentage of participants misbehaved.

This article doesn't read very differently if you replace "SantaCon" with "Brooklyn Waterfront Concerts." But apparently Gothamist LIKED the Brooklyn Waterfront Concerts, so the noise, lewdness, pissing, puking, shitting, sexual harassment, ect of those concerts is something that the residents of Williamsburg should happily accept because its only for 60 hours a year, but Santa Con is something everyone seems to hate for the very same reasons.

To me that seems a bit hypocritical.

So maybe my logic only appears to "suck" because you are a retarded person.

birdtird

no, you're a retarded;)

no, man, i'm just saying this event is really about nothing except pretty much drunkenness and the few people who didn't get enough of the 4000 events we have all year long in this city. i admit i think the canned food thing is the best possible contribution of this day but otherwise who needs an excuse to go get wasted. i do it all the time without an invitation. plus, santa was about charity, go volunteer at a fucking soup kitchen in the name of santa.

Ian MacAllen

Was Santa Con all Disney like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade? No. But it also wasn't the West Indian Day Parade or Hoboken St. Patrick's Day. On the spectrum of douchebaggery, there are plenty of things that are worse.

But what I'm taking issue with here is that it certainly seems that the Gothamist coverage of certain events -- like Hipster-riffic Brooklyn Waterfront Concerts -- are getting preferential coverage over the less-hipster-more-bro Santa Con. Sure, there were some bros at Santa Con and they misbehaved. But there was also LEGO Santa. Like a guy dressed like Santa, if Santa was a 7 foot LEGO mini-fig.

dickylarue

I honestly don't believe many of the personal stories in this article at all. The one about the lady with the 1 year old and her response sounds completely made up to shock the readers. It just sounds to me like a bunch of "edgy hipsters" are pissed this thing has gone mainstream.

BPlease

Well, it actually reads like the reverse, but don't let that stop you.

MattS

Keep delving into this important conspiracy theory you are developing. I sense...importance.

BPlease

I sense impotence.

Ho_Chi_Minhs_Revenge

I had a similar experience on the day of "SantaCon." My girlfriend and I were riding the subway and an enormous gaggle of drunken frat boys and jersey-shore lookin chicks got on. These drunk frat-boy imbeciles were cursing and wrestling, being extremely rude and disruptive. One enormous drunken idiot started cursing up a storm in front of a little boy and his mother (the frightened and shocked little boy told his mom that Santa should get him soap for Christmas to wash out his mouth). My gf and I told him to watch his language, and instead of manning up and apologizing he offered the little boy candy and told us to fuck off. Then they all got off at Penn Station to go back to Long Island. Seemingly good idea for an event, but the obnoxious frat-boy day drinking is better suited for a giant state university campus than for New York City. It draws a pretty shitty crowd of rowdy mouth-breating mooks from what I've seen.

cornflkgrl

It's a shame that assholes ruin the fun for the people who are kind and creative and responsibly having fun. First, and sadly but not sadly, last SantaCon for me. I encountered a douche bag within the first hour--a self-entitled frat trustifarian who said he would "smack me across the face" because the bar wasn't serving beer where we were and I nicely told him he had to go to another area to order. WOW. Yeah, there were some very nice people with great energy. It's just too bad it's been totally ruined with assholes.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Sweet tiny baby jesus.

I'm sure some/many/all of the stories above are true, but I saw nothing but friendly faces during my 12 hour trek through the city. Any non-participants (with the exception of some commuters at Grand Central who were probably understandably perturbed at having to make their way through and even bigger sea of humanity than normal) I witnessed were aghast in the most positive way possible.
Strangers were talking to each other. With smiles on their faces.

I didn't see anyone treating a tourist or a kid or a cop with disrespect. I was out from 2pm to 2am, i'm 40, and I had a giant christmas tree wig on my head. THIS IS WHY I LIVE IN NEW YORK. So every once in a while i can let my freak flag fly. Then i go back to my accounting job, pleased as punch.

Dunce_Party

If you need to be in New York City to let your freak flag fly, you're doing it wrong. And if by letting your freak flag fly, you mean wearing some bullshit on your head while getting drunk, your life is boring.

Also, what self-respecting 40 year old starts drinking at 2PM? I stopped doing that shit when I was 25, dogg.

birdtird

the best was watching santas doing the walk of shame on sunday afternoon, like, "hey, where's all the butt munches i was hanging out with yesterday??"

robingee

There are a-holes everywhere.

Mordicai

Yup. When I saw a fratted out guy drinking out of a brown paper bag with a cheap 99 cent Santa hat as his costume-- he was otherwise kitted out in Hardy & crappy sunglasses that were probably expensive-- I realized that I was super glad I bailed on my friends who've been doing it for years.

SANTA_THe_1_PErCenTer

Santa says "Fuck You"
Merry Christmas!
Santa (1%er)

Karen Waryas

looks fun to me!

Paul

It was exactly the same in London on Saturday. At one point it was a borderline riot - I witnessed so many people abusing and being disrespectful towards passers by, drivers, tourists, shop keepers, bar owners etc. Something went horibly wrong this year - I suspect,and hope it won't happen again in London 2012. The police were nowhere to be seen...

Spyro Poulos

Here here - you know I was getting tired of all the zombie crawls at one point but the big difference is those people put a lot more work, skill and creativity into their costumes and the very discomfort of latex applications and fake blood probably dissuade them from the further discomfort of walking home with puked up shirts or pissed in pants - on the other hand ANY moron can put on a Santa Hat grab a candy cane and take shots of Jaeger at 27 different bars. Santa Con get's coal for Christmas.

Sean Curry

You say that like being naughty is a bad thing.

AnonIdiot

"You say that like being an asshole is a bad thing"

Fixed it for you.

Seriously, nothing wrong with having fun, also nothing wrong with calling out jackasses and obnoxious behavior whenever/wherever it shows itself. Whether it's SantaCon, OWS, St. Patricks, West Indian.

delicats

My experience with SantaCon:

Saturday night, 11 pm, 86th St in Bay Ridge (you know, by Century 21 and all the cell phone store.)

"Santa" eating a take-out tray of Chinese food and pissing all over the sidewalk. As in, back AGAINST the building, taking a leak. Obscene.

There you go, children.

Sean Curry

I think you're missing the point.

AlexTheOriginalPartyDog

Dude, you're the one missing the point. People give food to charities all the time without getting plastered and acting like douchebags. Santacon is one of the cuntiest displays of the year.

Ms. Pants

Points for the use of "cuntiest!"

delicats

I don't see what you mean.

SSmithNY

The Santas also collected about 3 TONS of non-perishables for local food banks.

Dunce_Party

Thousands of people collect non-perishable food for charity year round without needing to dress like a medieval saint, get highly intoxicated and puke and shit all over Manhattan.

PE News

What I'm about to say applies to SantaCon, OWS, and many, many other movements out there that have the original idea ruined by some idiots:

"A few bad apples can spoil the whole bunch."

Spyro Poulos

some did - most just drank and puked.

NYCnimby

Too bad any good they did is overwhelmed by acting like assholes. I would pay an extra tax all year long (if it went to charity) if I didn't have to deal with drunk kids on St. Patty's Day and SantaCon.

Sean Curry

> Too bad any good they did is overwhelmed by acting like assholes.

Ask the bars we went to that if they'd stand behind that statement.

delicats

Let's compare all the good deeds people who 1.) simply just worked and donated around the holidays vs. 2.) people who donated $20 worth of canned food on Saturday, exposed themselves to everyone, puked & pissed on everything, sexually harassed women, etc.

BUT THEY DONATED A FEW CANS, RIGHT? (All that one could carry in their Camel Pak on the LIRR, anyway.)

AlexTheOriginalPartyDog

Hopefully you're getting paid for this PR work you're doing right now.

BPlease

Indeed. He's very good.

whysenhymer

Not that I participate with the hooligans, but I kinda view SantaCon as a protest against Christmas. The fact that thousands of Santas are puking all over New York kinda melts my Grinch heart.

Spyro Poulos

maybe once - now it may as well be St. Patrick's day.

Mike_Nesmith

St. Patrick's Day and Halloween gave birth to child. They named it Santacon. It has Down Syndrome.

Sean Curry

And it is spectacular.

oneoneone

It would be interesting to change each reference in the "article" from SantaCon to OWS and see how the tenor of the comments changes.

Jessica Jones

"the most disconcerting thing about OWS is that thousands and
thousands of people dress up as the same thing so not a single one of
them is liable for what another OWS protester does."

That actually works pretty well.

TheOtherBob

Yeah, that makes sense.

Also, if you tell the nativity story, but replace "Jesus" with "Stalin?" Man, it's like...a whole other story! Suddenly, like, Mary's giving birth to communism! Dude!

I just blew your mind, didn't I? Yeah, totally just blew your mind.

delicats

Except they have nothing to do with eachother.

zombie_cakes

And just when I start to miss it, I am again glad I moved out of NYC. Why do these people never end up falling onto the subway tracks?

TheOtherBob

New Yorkers have forgotten how to push.

Matt S.

I watched a man dressed as Santa full-on fight another man dressed as a menorah, while slurring something vaguely racist.

It's just turned into amateur-night.

MattS

I rarely reply so I thought i drunkenly posted this but nope. Not drunk.

Sean Curry

Oh man, are you a professional drinker? What's it like, drinking alcohol professionally?

Dunce_Party

It's a tough job but somebody's gotta do it. Professional drinking takes a toll on my health and relationships, but it's well worth it to see a bartender's eyes light up when I rack up a $200 bar tab. Professional drinkers create efficiency in the economy, and without us, New York City would grind to a halt.

birdtird

Seaaan, did you do santa-con bro? Something in your tone says you may have.

BPlease

Best day of the year, brah.

marco_esquandolas

The NYPD needs to run some of these idiots in for public intoxication and have them sit in the Tombs over the weekend to make an example out of them. Word will spread and then next year, hopefully, this nonsense will stop.

Just because you're wearing a Santa suit, that doesn't make you a good person.

jarret kerr

whoa, ease up on Tim Allen.

AlexTheOriginalPartyDog

Don't worry, Johnny Depp will handle this.

John_Del_Signore

Believe it or not, news outlets often editorialize about a topic they ALSO do straightforward reporting on.

Brooklyn Brood

C'mon JDS, how about a smidgen of culpability? In the past 5 years Gothamist may have well been the official promoter of SantaCon.

In other news, WorldStarHipHop says, "When are people going to stop fighting on mass transit?"

Brooklyn Brood

Gothamist vilifying SantaCon? You just topped "Newt Gingrich Signs Fidelity Pledge" as the most hypocritical story of the day.

boomshanka

I'd like to start an anti-santa con, where teams compete to beat down the most drunken belligerent santas around the city. i can't see how this could go wrong.

where's john pike when you really need him?

Dunce_Party

I would totally join you on this quest for justice.

pendejito

Let me know when you get it started. I'd like to be in a team.

edgierthanyou

May the seed of your loin be fruitful in the belly of your woman
-Neil

edgierthanyou

i remember my first beer.

jibbly

It's basically Halloween part 2, except everyone dresses up in Christmas themed crap and the girls can't be as slutty because it's too cold out.

Truly it's like A Nightmare Before Christmas. A well intentioned takeover of a holiday until a bunch of little monsters decide to fuck it up. Unfortunately I don't think this genie can be put back into the bottle. The BroManDudes will perpetuate this awful shit for years to come.

RobertMosesSupposesErroneously

I saw a drunk BroManDude on St. Patty's punch a cabbie in the face through his rolled down window, for honking when the asshole ran into traffic.

Of all the times I hate working in the middle of Times Sq., St. Patty's tops the list.

Ben Hudson

No, it's St Paddy's Part II. People get up and start drinking earlier, are not as creative with their costumes and are crying on the curb by 8pm.

edgierthanyou

idiots

Guest

My twelve year old daughter correctly pointed out "There are a lot of douche bags in New York City, and the costumes at least make it easier to spot them."

Nikki May

Your kid is awesome.

coolcat9944

I participated last weekend and ended up with mixed feelings. While it's fun to dress like an asshole and bar crawl, it's not ok to harrass non participants. Plus, I think I may be getting too old for that shit.

SevenOTwo

I agree. I also did it this past weekend, and have done it on and off for years. I'm definitely done. The article is right - this year was definitely more saturated with assholes then previous years. Lots of 20yr old bros from LI pissing and throwing up all over the streets at 11am because they drank too much on the train in.

I was talking to one of the organizers in the afternoon who pretty much felt the same way and you could tell he knew the event had reached the tipping point.

Relaxasaurus

Same boat. I had fun, didn't run into any aholes luckily but I'm sure they were there.

Would taking away Santacon stop assholes from being assholes any other night? Probably not. We just need to make Santas wear license plates on the back of their coat

Fluffhead513

Seriously, I felt way more stabby this Santacon than last Santacon for some reason. Then again, I think I feel stabbier with every new Santacon and the truckloads of drunken idiots it brings around.