A group of New Yorkers made an attempt to deter drunken hordes of red-suited Santas from flooding the city Saturday, butended upon the naughty list.
Protesters gathered near the Flatiron Building around 11 a.m. Saturdayas about 1,000 Santas assembled for the kickoff of their 50-stop bar crawl.
Two protesters, one of whom was also wearing an iconic red cap printed with the words “Make America Great Again” were ticketed for using megaphones without a permit, the New York Post reported. “I saw a sex act in aisle four of Duane Reade!” one yelled as Santas booed. “You guys are doing a bad thing, and it makes everyone sad.”
Leading up to the event, the activists had hung posters of a “planned change” around the East Village and Williamsburg, claiming the convention had been canceled.
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“New York City residents have petitioned to cancel SantaCon 2016 due to the types of people it attracts. This petition received overwhelming support. As a result, SantaCon 2016 and all future SantaCon celebrations have been cancelled within New York city limits. Residents of New York City thank you for your cooperation,” the flier said. The poster made special note of the kind of ills SantaCon introduces to the community, such as rowdy partiers puking on city sidewalks.
A member of the New York City Residents (NYCR) that took responsibility for the posters told Gothamist that the intention was to unite politically disillusioned New Yorkers in the hatred of SantaCon: “Our country feels so divided right now that we are all searching for things that unify us. The one thing that I have found that we all have in common is our disdain for SantaCon. Over the past few years myself and others have witnessed several horrible acts including but not limited to; sex acts in aisle 4 of the Duane Reade on 14th and 3rd, countless fist fights, and excessive vomiting.” “We have reached out to organizers and asked them to cancel but have not heard back. We hope they will come to their senses. We hope the organizers hear us loud and clear and are aware that we will be out in force tomorrow to stop SantaCon if they don’t cancel,” the source said. Santas from around the country argued that it was their right to get wasted.
“We’re just trying to get s–tfaced,” Josh Bryce, 28, who came from Baltimore for the event, told the Post. “We’re just hoping to have a good night.”
