Yesterday was Santacon in New York City! Described as a “non-denominational, non-commercial, non-political and nonsensical Santa Claus convention that occurs once a year for absolutely no reason,” thousands of young people dressed as Santa Claus hit the streets of New York City in an orchestrated pub crawl. It is quite the scene to behold. As we live in the Village, we waited until 4:00-ish to hit the streets as the East Village was designated Stage 3 (4:30 to 7:30). We threaded our way over to St. Marks amidst an every-increasing crush of Santas! Hundreds of young party-goers were dressed in seasonal red and white fur. Carefully sidestepping throngs outside of designated bars, we ended up on Second Avenue. Looking northwards, it seemed to be a river of Santas. The costumes were myriad and festive! Amongst the Santa suits (both male and female), we spotted elves, candy canes, reindeer, blue and white Yankee Santas, gingerbread figures, flashing lights, flirtatious female Santas, goth Santas, glam Santas, a few Egyptian headpiece-wearing Santas, and, finally, what we were really looking for…a young woman dressed as a furry blue and white dreidel! There are always a few Hanukkah Harry figures and this year did not disappoint! One young man sported a true Hanukkah Harry in the complete blue and white furry suit resplendent with a Star of David. And another young man had a menorah on his head!
What a sight to behold. In every inexpensive eatery in the East Village could be seen legions of bobbing Santa hats as the Santas stopped to refuel!
A Kosher Christmas 