MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) -- It has been called ‘Santarchy,’ ‘the Santa rampage,’ ‘the red menace’ and ‘Santapalooza.’
An estimated 30,000 people dressed as Santa Claus, his wife, his elves and a few grinches are hitting the bars in New York City on Saturday for the annual SantaCon pub crawl.
It started in the Times Square area and ended in the East Village with 50 bars participating.
It is an annual rite of passage for the 20-somethings living in New York City. It is the booze-filled pub crawl with Santas, Mrs. Claus, grinches, reindeer, snowmen, and some elves thrown in.
SantaCon started at 10 a.m. Saturday morning and by mid-afternoon many first-time SantaCon participants said they were trying to pace themselves and slow down the drinking, or at least that is what they said on camera.
“We’ve had a lot less than other people we’ve seen on the streets,” Peyton Beck, a 23-year-old first-time SantaCon participant, told PIX11 News.
More than 800 SantaCon revelers are expected to pack Coyote Ugly on East 14 Street until closing time at 4 a.m.
By mid-afternoon on Saturday, participants were dancing on the bar. Coyote Ugly’s manager welcomes this chaos.
“I love SantaCon because it’s extremely energetic and it’s an amazing day in New York City,” Paula Dinoris, the general manager for Coyote Ugly, told PIX11 News. “It’s a break from everything going on in the world and it’s good for business,” she added.
This SantaCon weekend, commuter rail lines are banning drinking on trains from 4 a.m. Saturday through noon on Sunday. Many locals in the neighborhood wish all the Santas would just stay home.
“It makes me feel very uneasy and as it goes later in the day and they are drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk,” Barbara Ann Cook, a Stuyvesant Town resident, told PIX11 News.
But still, the party goes on, hopefully responsibly.
“From me and mine to you and yours Merry Christmas and happy holidays,” a somewhat inebriated group told PIX11 News.
The crawl is supposed to end at 8 p.m. but many participants stated they will be here until 4 a.m.
The next Saturday SantaCon will be in Hoboken, N.J.
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