NYC may be increasingly devolving into a playground for the rich, but there is one very special day of the year when it transforms into a playground for the drunk. SantaCon returned to Manhattan on Saturday, kicking things off with a bacchanalia in Times Square before participants travelled down a magical vomitous path through Murray Hill, Gramercy Park and down to the East Village.
We've reached out to police to get the final estimates on how many arrests and tickets were given out this year, and will update when they get us those figures. You can check out photos from the festivities Times Square up above. And below, in the spirit of the occasion, we're making a list, checking it twice, and we're gonna find out who was naughty and nice at SantaCon 2019.
NICE: There was a major fight involving Santas on a Long Island-bound LIRR train around 6 p.m. Saturday, but it's not what you think: the Santas were allegedly the good guys in this case. According to the witness who took the video below, " the guys in the Santa costumes did not start this. The old drunk man enticing them did."
A police spokesperson told the NY Post that the suspect, who was reportedly drunk, stabbed another male train passenger in the leg, and the Santas restrained him until cops arrived. Witness Matthew Mont told the Post that the suspect had started making homophobic comments on the train when the fracas started; he then allegedly pulled a knife on one of the Santas holding him down. The 22-year-old victim was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center with a minor puncture to his left leg. It's unclear whether the suspect was a SantaCon participant, but we're giving credit to Righteous Santa Justice this year.
NAUGHTY: That of course doesn't mean there weren't fights between drunken Santas as well in Manhattan.
These people weren't dressed up, but the uploader said they "they were all wasted" from SantaCon.
NICE: Gucci Mane was spotted hanging out at the event in Midtown and saying hi to fans. I'm sure people who recognized him really appreciated that!
NAUGHTY: There are few more nightmarish things than getting stuck on the subway with loud, obnoxiously drunk Santas. There's nowhere to go, nothing you can do. If you engage, it'll only make it worse. The man in the purple hat in the video below wears the face of all NYers trapped in this cycle:
NICE: Local politicians/celebs who GET IT. Julia Salazar knows what I'm talking about:
NAUGHTY: Getting stuck on an LIRR or Metro-North train car with Santas, whether it's the start or end of the occasion, may be even worse than getting stuck on the subway with a Santa horde.
The woman in the knit cap does not know what the hell she just walked away from:
NAUGHTY: The fact that dozens of drunken SantaBros got away with this while an NYPD crackdown on fair evasion disproportionately impacts New Yorkers of color seems pretty shitty.
NICE: Drew Barrymore took a trip through Midtown (with her car window down) and documented all the Santas she saw.
NAUGHTY: Getting drunk at 7:30 a.m. is TOO EARLY! If you are drinking that early, you may have a drinking problem!
NAUGHTY: Pity anyone who had to go to the Times Square area for any reason on Saturday and wasn't a celebrity safely nestled in the back of a vehicle.
NICE: Whatever the hell is going on in this video.
NAUGHTY: This "deep cover" cop.
NICE: This is just a great tweet about the atmosphere around the event in Midtown.
NAUGHTY: The inebriated dude from West Virginia who “pissed in the middle of the McDonald’s in front of a child” in Times Square then puked and was seen passed out on the pavement outside the McDonald's back entrance. “Some woman [there] said ‘I have f—ing child.’ I said, ‘I’m just trying to get him out of here.’ And here he lays," a witness told the Post.
NAUGHTY: All the faces full of regret.
