© Julian Leshay/Special to NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
(New York, NY) — Saturday is going to be one of the most dreaded days of the year for many New Yorkers. It’s SantaCon, the annual bar crawl where men and women dress up as Santa and go drinking in midtown Manhattan. For years, neighbors who live near the bar route have complained about drunken Santas causing fights and urinating in front of their buildings. The organizers of the annual event says they have reigned in the debauchery.
Over the past decade, SantaCon has raised more than one million dollars for local charities with the tickets they sell to take part in the crawl.
Commuter rails across New York and New Jersey are banning alcohol this weekend in preparation for SantaCon. New Jersey Transit has banned all beverages on its trains, light rail vehicles, and buses. It will also institute the ban next weekend when SantaCon arrives in Hoboken. The MTA has also announced its banning alcohol on Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road through noon Sunday.
