It appears Christmas has come early courtesy of the MTA, who are presenting us with the gift of sober Santas on all their commuter trains this weekend. Yesterday, the LIRR announced they were banning booze from noon Saturday until noon Sunday thanks to SantaCon, and now, Metro-North has issued a similar 24-hour ban. R.I.P., luggage rack luge. R.I.P.
In a statement issued today, the MTA announced that the Metro-North and LIRR booze bans were being issued in order to "maintain orderly travel during this weekend’s SantaCon event," and anyone caught with alcohol onboard will be subject to a $50 fine or face 30 days imprisonment, which is at least eight Budweiser 40s, so take that for what it's worth.
New Jersey Transit also announced yesterday that they'll be banning booze on their trains this weekend and alcohol is never allowed on PATH trains, so if you're planning to pre-game the Day of Hell, you'll have to stick with surreptitiously brown-bagging it before you hit the platform. Or, you know, you could just stay home and watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. In fact, please do that.
But fear not, fans of post-work train happy hour: booze-friendly hours will return to Metro-North and the LIRR just as soon as the last Santa has straggled back home on Sunday. There's no party like a drunk train party.
