Here comes SantaCon NYC: Where to go (or avoid) during Saturday’s festivities

SantaCon, the annual bar crawl for people dressed as Santa Claus and other holiday characters, returns bright and early to Manhattan on Saturday.

Technically it’s a ticketed event – for a $15 donation, attendees receive a VIP “badge” that grants access to certain major venues, among other unspecified perks. (SantaCon NYC is hosted by a registered nonprofit called Participatory Safety, Inc. Records show they spent much of the proceeds on cryptocurrencies and Burning Man-related projects.)

The first rule of SantaCon is that there are many rules for SantaCon. The event’s website has a detailed list of do’s and don’ts, presumably stemming from mishaps from SantaCon’s past.

Perhaps the most important is this: “If you find yourself in conflict with a drunk Santa, walk away… Just let it go.”

Among the other guidelines:

• Do not vomit or urinate in public.
• Be nice to children.
• Be nice to the police officers.
• Tip well, in cash.
• Wear comfortable shoes.
• Wear heat-regulating layers.
• Don’t secretly be under 21.
• Wear the full costume, organizers say: “None of that ‘just a hat’ bull–t.”

This year’s SantaCon officially begins at 10 a.m. (why not) at Broadway and 39th Street and runs until 8 p.m., with participating venues spread out in a wide, diagonal line from 53rd Street down to the Bowery.

A quick look at the event map shows that there are options for different types of Santas. There is a bar for gamer Santas. One for shisha smoking Santas. At least two for queer-friendly Santas. One for more “sophisticated” Santas. There’s a dart bar (beware) that claims to have “the cleanest bathrooms in NYC.” And there is Margaritaville Times Square.

As has been the case since 2012, alcohol is banned on Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road trains and platforms on Saturdays and until midday on Sundays. MTA officials said they would deploy additional police to Penn Station, Grand Central Terminal and Grand Central Madison to enforce open container rules.

If this is stressing you out, here is the venue map again so you can plan your day accordingly. And if that sounds like fun to you but conflicts with other plans, there’s a SantaCon in Hoboken next Saturday.