BY HEATHER DUBIN | A snowy and slushy Saturday was no deterrent for SantaCon. Thousands of holiday revelers dressed as Santa Claus, scantily clad elves and even gingerbread men, braved the snow and frigid temperatures on Dec. 14 for the all-day drinkathon.
By train, bus or subway, devotees traveled en masse to the event’s 13th annual pub crawl. This year, the hotly contested event — which contributes to charities — kicked off in Tompkins Square Park at 10 a.m. Enthusiastic participants then proceeded to imbibe from bar to bar on the SantaCon route, which ended in Williamsburg.
There was some strong resistance to SantaCon this year. Bars and lounges in Midtown and Hell’s Kitchen were encouraged by a local police lieutenant to boycott the event and turn away Santas. And several bars in the East Village and Lower East Side declared themselves a “SantaCon free zone.” But some East Village bars around Second Ave. were pleased with the outcome.
At Dempsey’s pub, on Second Ave. near E. Fourth St., the staff was prepared.
“We take precautions and have New York City-registered security on the door all day and all night,” said Colin Stewart, the bar manager at Dempsey’s and a co-owner of Cooper’s Craft and Kitchen, a gastro pub on Second Ave. at E. Fifth St. Stewart’s doormen were instructed to turn away anyone visibly inebriated.
Stewart bartended on Saturday, and noted he was “in the trenches” with the troops.
“We found it to be a lot of fun,” he said. “I’m a fan of it, but I do get the community’s concerns.”
And Stewart takes those concerns into consideration. He said he has an understanding that a neighborhood business has a social responsibility to its residential neighbors.
“I’m from Ireland, and we’re very community orientated,” he said. “People are sleeping here and working here [in the neighborhood]. It’s all good for business, but residents don’t want a once-a-year pub crawl that doesn’t fit into their normal routines.”
Photo by Jefferson Siegel
Stewart was delighted that SantaCon was without incident at both Dempsey’s pub and Cooper’s.
“We didn’t have any damages, and didn’t have a single person puke in the bar, or damage the bar,” he said. “It was a great day for bartenders, servers and good holiday spirit.”
According to Stewart, revelers refrained from getting too sloppy this year as well.
As for business, Stewart has noticed SantaCon’s growth in recent years, and wanted to ensure his staff was not overwhelmed.
“It’s like Saint Patrick’s Day — hope for the best, and prepare for the worst,” he said. “I think the snow contained them on Second Avenue, and it worked to our advantage.”
Over at Bait & Hook, on Second Ave. and 14th St., Jeff Foley, the bar/restaurant’s manager, also described a good experience with SantaCon. They opened their doors at 10 a.m., and had about 100 people in the place consistently for eight hours.
“There was a line that stretched maybe 20 feet long down the side of the building, plus we were filled to capacity,” he said. “We had a really good time.” There were no fights, but people leaned on some curtains, and the drapes were pulled down.
At one point their amplifier blew out for the surround sound, and Foley had to exit for a new one. In the interim, SantaCon attendees filled the musical void.
“What was great was the customers were compensating, and they were singing all these holiday songs,” he said.
Bait & Hook mostly served drinks, and featured a Jolly Rancher shot special once every hour. Foley expressed gratitude for being a part of SantaCon, and will donate 15 percent of the day’s sales to charity.
“It was probably a little more profitable than last year’s SantaCon, and both SantaCons were our busiest nights of the year,” he said. “For one event happening, it hit big for us.”
Santas had another early venue to hit at The 13th Step, on Second Ave. and E. Ninth St. Manager Kevin Momenee worked his first SantaCon in the East Village on Saturday, and the crowd was lined up before doors opened at 9:30 a.m.
Having previously worked at Off The Wagon, on MacDougal St. in the West Village, Momenee said, “I’ve seen more of my share of Santas than I’ve ever wanted to for the rest of my life.”
Last Saturday, he arrived for work at 4 p.m., and noted it took him 15 minutes to reach the bar through the crowd.
“It was one of the busiest days of our entire existence — it was just insane,” he said. It was wall-to-wall people until 10 p.m., without an inch to spare. Momenee said even the SantaCon crowd was complaining about it.
“I heard people saying, ‘I told you I didn’t want to come here because it was so busy,’” he said.
While he dreaded SantaCon, noting that people dressed like St. Nick feel nothing can go wrong, and might act out of line, Momenee was surprised there was only one small problem that day. He attributes this to amazing security, and people who regulated the bathrooms. And as for business, it was phenomenal.
“It was one of the best days we’ve ever had, it was a good day,” Momenee said. “I expected a lot of problems, usually that happens when you get people drinking all day long.”
However, Sunday morning brought 30 to 50 phone calls inquiring about lost phones, wallets, shoes and keys.
As the annual event has grown and drawn more complaints, this year, elected officials — led by state Senator Brad Hoylman — reached out to SantaCon beforehand, asking that the event provide its route, and also generally tone down some of the wild behavior from years past. SantaCon did finally provide its route, the night before the booze-filled bacchanal.
In a phone interview on Tuesday, Hoylman gave mixed reviews to SantaCon 2013.
“I do think the fact that the volunteer organizers shared their routes with the police precincts and community boards was helpful,” he said. “It allowed the police to set up a presence.”
Santas were reminded by cops to behave in a civilized manner and treat the neighborhood with respect.
“At the same time, there were sporadic incidents across the city with really quite boorish behavior,” Holyman noted. “This is all linked, very much, to the binge drinking that’s associated with the event.”
About eight Santas were captured on video in a brawl on the corner of 17th St. and Third Ave. Saturday night.
To curtail this behavior for future SantaCons — which Holyman describes as a flash mob that draws people to the city from all over the region thanks to social media — conversations have already begun with the State Liquor Authority.
“That is really how we get a handle on the binge drinking,” he said. “It’s the responsibility of bar owners to not serve people who are drunk, which is against the law.”
Holyman also feels the volunteer organizers affiliated with SantaCon do not like the way it has evolved.
“I’m grateful for the police coming out,” he said. “On the other hand, it’s a shame we had to divert so many resources.”
Holyman looks forward to revisiting SantaCon under a new mayoral administration next year.
Susan Stetzer, district manager of Community Board 3, applauded both Hoylman’s efforts and the strong police presence, in a separate phone inteview.
“We had the chief of Manhattan South, commanding officers, and lots and lots of cops,” she said. “That was very appreciated.”
Stetzer did wonder how much the city spent to police SantaCon in the East Village.
“Everyone says this is for charity,” she said of SantaCon. “I would suspect that the amount spent on the police was probably more than the charity.”
Improvements this year were also due to better sidewalk management — many bars had ropes outside for crowd control, and the snow helped reduce the number of Santas.
“I have debriefed with a representative of SantaCon, and he agrees on that,” she said. Additionally, police visited bars prior to Saturday along with SantaCon organizers.
However, Stetzer’s final take was not positive.
“In the end, I will say, it was not a pleasant experience,” she said. “You don’t think about the people who are nice or polite. There were a lot of really drunk and rude people out there.”
Stetzer mentioned a woman who left a bar swearing about the old people inside, and how much she disliked them, with expletive emphasis. Also, the Ninth Precinct, on E. Fifth St., had its annual holiday children’s party on Saturday, the second year in a row with a shared SantaCon date.
“Everybody in the community knows about it — we collected toys in our office for them,” the district manager said. “All these drunk Santas are running around acting like idiots, and all these kids are going to get their toys from Santa.”
Stetzer noted she also saw a video online of some sexually explicit behavior recorded outside the Duane Reade on Third Ave. and 14th St.
SantaCon organizers have assured Stetzer that the event will not be in the East Village next year.
Responding to questions from The Villager, a SantaCon representative reflected on the day positively in an e-mail response signed “Santa.” He said he thought the route was “full of creativity, Absurdist Theater, street art and holiday cheer!”
He said no one had informed “Santa” about any badly behaved partiers. But, he could not ignore the visible evidence.
“We have all seen the unfortunate fight video that took place outside of the suggested route and hours after the event had ended,” said “Santa.”
“Santa” was unable to reveal how much money was raised for charity, since many bars have not reported earnings.
As for the future of SantaCon, “Santa” claimed, it is “to be determined.”
