With the mercy of the Lord, we survive yet another SantaCon

NYT caption: "Here Comes SantaCon (Despite the Snow and Rain): The annual costumed bar crawl, which has faced complaints from New York residents, went on despite the snow and cold temperatures."

"For us, it's a tradition. And nothing is going to stop us."

-- Amber Tyson, 32, who drove from Philadelphia to New
Jersey, then took three trains to get to SantaCon NYC

by Ken

For those of us unendowed with Holiday Spirit, it's the darkest of many fairly dim days strung from about Halloween (or is it Labor Day now?) through New Year's and beyond.

I suppose it's just another proof of what a sheltered world I live in, but I had never so much as heard of SantaCon until last year I somehow found myself trapped in the living, drunken heart of it: legions of young people dressed in Santa suits staggering around the sidewalks of New York in the local version, doing their darnedest to rise to the level of public nuisance. On my scorecard they would have qualified with half the effort.

So I was pleased, even kind of relieved, to find this year as the ominous day approached that there has been quite a substantial backlash against this bizarre spectacle. I mean, what human being with a measurable IQ actually derives pleasure from dressing up like Santa and staggering from bar to bar in what I gather is an annually designated target zone which is kept strictly secret until just before SC-day? I know a lot of participants claim that SantaCon isn't really about the drinking, which then leaves the question, what is it about? At least the drinking offers some kind of rationale, albeit a pretty pathetic one.

At least one person must be happy: Bill O'Reilly. Bill O must be thrilled that all these young people, far from enlisting in the War on Christmas, are so intent on celebrating its true spirit.

SantaCon Presses On Through Weather and Criticism

By JULIE TURKEWITZ
Published: December 14, 2013

Freezing temperatures. Sheets of sopping snowflakes. Outcry from New Yorkers tired of a city turned into a playground for debauching Santas. None of it could prevent SantaCon, the costumed holiday season bar crawl that seems to have grown larger and naughtier as the years have passed.

On Saturday morning, the event kicked off at Tompkins Square Park in the East Village, where a few hundred early risers gathered for a pre-bar game of kickball. Longtime veterans said it was the first time they could remember snow during the event. Santas of varying sizes hefted their fake pudge. Jesus waved a staff in the air. His buddies, a turkey and a bunny, beckoned him toward a bar. A few police officers stood by.

"This is real street theater and I'm a fan of that," said Sidney Oolongo, 37, who had dressed as an ice king for his 10th SantaCon. He declared the day a victory for guerrilla artists and dismissed those who had written the day off as a day to merely drink oneself numb. "It's that. But it's also creative costumes. It's also people hanging out with friends and having a good time."

Wind bit at naked cheeks. And near the park's entrance, three college seniors wearing tight red mini-dresses explained why they had gone jacketless. "It would ruin our outfits," explained one of the seniors, Danielle Klemonsky, 21. "I have on a shirt, actually," said another, Angelique Blake, 21, an aspiring lawyer. "But I'm short so it looks like a dress." Both had traveled to Manhattan from Iona College in New Rochelle.

SantaCon, billed on its website as a "nonsensical Santa Claus convention that happens once a year for absolutely no reason," began in 1994 in San Francisco. The party has since grown into a global phenomenon. But in New York, many have grown tired of Santas who they say treat their streets like the basement of a giant fraternity house.

On Saturday, at 11 a.m., a group of costumed men from Bayside, Queens, had already pushed their bellies against the bar at Ryan's Irish Pub in the East Village. Viking Santa -- for professional reasons, he asked that only his party name be used -- spoke out against those who think the day is "just buffoonery."

"We're supporting local businesses," he explained.

Another celebrator who went by the name of Blitzer stepped in: "It brings people together."

In a back corner of the crowded bar, Amber Tyson, 32, dressed as a Christmas tree -- masses of tulle and sequins, electrical wires and blinking lights -- said that she had driven from Philadelphia to New Jersey on Friday night, and then taken three trains to make it to SantaCon on Saturday morning.

"For us, it's a tradition," she said. "And nothing is going to stop us."

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