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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Gothamist reports some funky happenings in the charity for SantaCon.</li><li>Since 2014, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-real-reason-why-santa-con-sucks-2013-12">SantaCon</a> has raised money by ticket fees for charity.</li></ul>[DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU ARE UNDER 8 YEARS OLD]Finding out Santa wasn't real was a devastating moment of my childhood. This is almost as bad.An investigation by Gothamist reveals that the charity behind <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/santacon-surge-omicron-nyc-covid-cases-positivity-rate-2021-12">SantaCon, the bar crawl</a> of fur- and crimson-clad belligerents, spewing mirth and barf in equal parts around New York City each December, isn't exactly what you'd expect.SantaCon has taken place in New York City for more than 20 years. Its event this year is Saturday. After some criticism from local scrooges who didn't appreciate the mobs of fratty, drunken merrymakers, SantaCon rebranded as a charitable organization, asking revelers to pay for a $15 ticket that goes toward charitable causes. Its website lists City Harvest, HeadCount and other nonprofits as recipients of money raised through ticket sales.<a target="_blank" href="https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/santacon-raises-money-for-charity-theyve-spent-a-lot-on-crypto-and-burning-man">Gothamist's investigation</a> into the charity's public filings told a different story than what many of the revelers might expect for where their $15 is going. According to the report:The majority of the expenditures — about 59% — went into the operating cost of running the day-of SantaCon (permits, sound equipment, staff) as well as the organization's office space and related costs.Other sums of money went to groups associated with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-ceos-founders-attended-burning-man">Burning Man</a>, like a zero-interest loan to host a post-Burning Man party, a grant to a documentary directed by someone who has given workshops at Burning Man, and a partnership in a charity with a bar in Queens that is owned by an address in Black Rock City, Nevada (the Burning Man location).SantaCon also had about about $17,000 in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/cryptocurrency">crypto</a> losses in 2018, the report noted.Gothamist points out that none of this is illegal, just … not what people might have expected out of the group's charitable status. A Notre Dame law professor quoted in the Gothamist story said that none of the information publicly available about the charitable organization behind SantaCon points to anything fraudulent, either. Still, he said charities often play "fast and loose" with accounting.Gothamist also spoke to two other experts in nonprofit accounting. "The money going to their targeted charities is minuscule as a percentage of their budget," Brian Mittendorf, the H.P. Wolfe chair in accounting at Ohio State, told Gothamist.Representatives for SantaCon didn't respond to Business Insider's request for comment. The founder of the group the runs the event told Gothamist that it's not a small undertaking — and that there were lots of costs for overhead.As if learning Santa isn't real wasn't hard enough.

SantaCon rains drunken santas on NYC every year. Turns out, it might not have been completely transparent about its charity.

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11956948" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nyc" source="Orion">NYC</keyword> is seeing another Covid wave — positivity rates have doubled in the past three days.</li><li>It's all thanks to <keyword id="12616996" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="omicron" source="Orion">Omicron</keyword>, the more infectious, but maybe not more severe, variant.</li></ul>All of a sudden, it feels like spring 2020 in NYC again. Broadway shows <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/15/theater/broadway-coronavirus-cancellations.html">are getting canceled</a>, colleges have <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/12/15/nyu-moves-finals-online-cancels-indoor-events-over-covid-surge/">moved final exams online</a>, and lines for Covid tests are <a href="https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/12/17/nyc-covid-testing-lines-check-wait-times/">snaking around the block</a>. We can all thank Omicron, the latest variant of the coronavirus, for ruining the holiday cheer.As of December 6, there were only 12 confirmed Omicron cases in New York state, with seven in the NYC metro area. State officials acknowledged it was the beginning of the community spread of Omicron, with <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/what-we-know-about-the-omicron-variant-in-new-york.html">Gove. Kathy Hochul emphasizing</a> that the new cases weren't a cause for alarm.But since last weekend — which saw the return of <keyword id="12764179" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="santacon" source="Orion">SantaCon</keyword>, NYC's biggest event of debauchery and drunken revelry — many a New Yorker's phones have blown up with texts from friends saying they'd been exposed to Covid. Positivity rates have doubled in the past three days, with cases in the city up <a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/weve-never-seen-this-before-in-nyc-covid-positivity-rate-doubles-in-3-days-as-omicron-spreads/3454450/">more than 40%</a> in one day, recording the highest one-day total since January 14. "We've never seen this before in #NYC," Dr. Jay Varma, an epidemiologist and former senior public health adviser to <keyword id="11921345" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="new-york-city" source="Orion">New York City</keyword> Mayor Bill de Blasio, <a href="https://twitter.com/DrJayVarma/status/1471485885447389186?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1471485885447389186%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnewyork.com%2Fnews%2Fcoronavirus%2Fweve-never-seen-this-before-in-nyc-covid-positivity-rate-doubles-in-3-days-as-omicron-spreads%2F3454450%2F">tweeted</a>.The mayor himself <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/omicron-covid-19-new-york-city-surge-1272962/">called the variant's rapid spread</a> "an urgent situation" at a recent press event, adding, "it sure is clear that it spreads fast." Health Commissioner Dr. Dave Chokshi said at a news conference that NYC's current transmission rates present an "alarming trend" of rising cases. It all comes on the heels of an annual event in which hundreds of New Yorkers dressed in red suits and elf hats storm the streets of Manhattan: SantaCon. <h2>The SantaCon surge</h2>SantaCon returned on December 11 this year after being <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=santacon+canceled+2020&amp;oq=santacon+canceled+2020&amp;aqs=chrome..69i57j0i333.3853j1j4&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8">canceled</a> last year due to <keyword id="11896136" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pandemic" source="Orion">pandemic</keyword> concerns. The pub crawl is a "charitable, political, nonsensical Santa Claus convention that happens once a year to spread absurdist joy," according to its <a href="https://santacon.nyc/what-is-santacon">website</a>. An organizer <a href="https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/12/11/santacon-nyc-2021/">told</a> CBS that to participate in the all-day event, everyone had to have proof of vaccination, but one New Yorker told CBS she thought it was "a bad idea" given Omicron's arrival.Another participant didn't share those same concerns: "At this point, what can we do? We're going to enjoy ourselves. Some people might get sick, but we got vaccinated." To be sure, SantaCon isn't entirely to blame for the Omicron wave. Companies have been holding <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/buzzfeed-staffers-test-positive-for-covid-19-following-holiday-party-2021-12">in-person holiday parties</a> and NYC <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-new-yorkers-nyc-iconic-bars-bemelmans-rainbow-room-2021-12">nightlife has been back to normal</a> for quite some time. Health restrictions, like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/13/nyregion/new-york-mask-mandate-vaccine.html">mask mandates</a> and social distancing, have been increasingly disregarded. It was all part of the "new normal" provided by a city that was the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-city-vaccine-mandate-bill-de-blasio-delta-variant-2021-8">first to implement a vaccine requirement</a> and now boasts a <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/what-we-know-about-the-omicron-variant-in-new-york.html">vaccination rate of 77%</a>. But Omicron has proven to be <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-bad-will-omicron-covid-variant-get-us-winter-cases-2021-12">more contagious</a> than Delta, and more evasive of vaccines. Though vaccines are shown to reduce the risk of severe disease from Omicron, studies show the initial two shots of Pfizer and Moderna <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/12/15/1064202754/omicron-evades-moderna-vaccine-too-study-suggests-but-boosters-help">aren't as adept</a> at preventing infection. While booster shots provide <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/early-research-shows-omicrons-impact-on-covid-19-shots-2021-12">higher levels</a> of protection, <a href="https://www.amny.com/lifestyle/health/coronavirus/1-million-new-yorkers-have-now-received-booster-shots/">less than 20%</a> New Yorkers were boosted the weekend Omicron hit the city.Omicron is becoming the global strain at twice the rate faster than Delta, per a recent Morgan Stanley note by Matthew Harrison. His team predicted that Omicron will peak in 10 to 12 weeks, with daily cases two to three times the Delta wave.The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/12/17/omicron-economy-coronavirus/?utm_source=feedly&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=wp_business">reported</a> that it may take weeks for the <keyword id="11893570" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="economy" source="Orion">economy</keyword> to realize Omicron's impact, but restaurant reservations and tourism are already declining. The spike in cases has also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/buzzfeed-staffers-test-positive-for-covid-19-following-holiday-party-2021-12">impacted</a> a number of companies' plans to return to the office.On Thursday, New York state reported the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-state-covid-19-record-breaking-daily-cases-2021-12">most new cases in a single day</a> during the entire course of the pandemic.

The SantaCon surge has hit NYC

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://sarahjacobs.photoshelter.com/index">Sarah Jacobs/Business Insider</a>Santas wait in line to get into John Sullivan's during SantaCon.</div></div></div><ul><li>SantaCon is a massive bar crawl that takes place across the world each year.</li><li>The event has become widely hated in New York, where drunken Santas crowd the city's bars. </li><li>We visited Midtown in the afternoon of December 9 to see what this year's festivities were like.</li></ul> <a href="https://www.santacon.info/">SantaCon</a>, a giant bar crawl that encourages grown men and women to dress in Santa Claus costumes in more than 100 cities around the world, descended on New York City this weekend. Dating back to 1994 and created by the same group that <a href="http://www.laweekly.com/arts/cacophony-society-prankster-group-gets-new-exhibit-and-documentary-2173842">started Burning Man</a>, SantaCon was originally meant to serve as a commentary on consumerism.But, the event has taken on a life of its own, with an estimated <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wd73bz/the-founder-of-santacon-explains-why-santacon-sucks-511">30,000 Santas attending</a> - some even coming from other states to do so. It has now become one of the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/santacon-mid-town-revelers-defend-dreaded-event-article-1.3687709">most hated bar crawls in New York</a>, often leading to public urinating, fights, and Santas passing out in subway stations. This year, New York's version of the annual crawl took place in Midtown, during the season's first snow. Chris Metts, an event coordinator at The Liberty, was excited that the crawl was happening in Midtown again this year. Metts told Business Insider that the bar orders more alcohol - specifically, Jameson and Fireball - in preparation."There's a lot of Fireball at SantaCon," he said. The bar also prefers canned beers over draft because, according to Metts, "they're easier to go, and quicker to give out."When asked about the <a href="http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/12/08/2017-santacon-nyc/">crackdown on open containers</a> that was planned for the subway and the area's commuter train systems ahead of SantaCon this year, Metts said he hadn't heard about it."Good luck to them," he said. Having never been to SantaCon, I bravely ventured out, walking the streets of Midtown in the early afternoon to see what kind of debauchery had already started in the city.

Hilarious photos show what happens at SantaCon, the enormous party where adults dressed as Santa descend into debauchery

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image">YouTubeThese Santas were caught in a brawl on a NYC street corner on Saturday night.</div></div>You may want to usher your kids out of the room for this one.
Every December, a dark day falls upon the otherwise cheery and decorated streets of Manhattan. That day was this past Saturday. 
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/nyregion/weather-and-criticism-are-no-damper-on-santacon.html?hpw&amp;rref=nyregion">SantaCon</a>, a dreaded annual event where frat house expats wreck havoc on the city dressed as the jolly holiday icon, is not a friend to those with no interest in reliving their worst nights of college.
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-real-reason-why-santa-con-sucks-2013-12">We've tried to fight it; we've failed. It just keeps happening.</a> 
This year we hoped a few inches of snow would deter participants, or at least give the rest of us an excuse to stay in and avoid the unofficial holiday all together, but the night turned out to be somewhat of an entertaining evening for two guys who were watching from a safe distance in the comfort of their own apartment.
They happened to catch a massive Santa brawl. Two groups of Santas (and a rogue elf) are seen wailing on each other as a peaceful snow falls and covers the city streets. 
Grab the popcorn.
We first saw this video on <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/lol/santa-con-drunken-santas-brawl-new-york-city-video/">The Daily Dot</a>:

A Bunch Of Santas Got Into A Violent Brawl On A NYC Street Corner This Weekend

<div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image">REUTERS/Lucas JacksonAlcohol will be banned on New York and New Jersey transit systems during this year's <keyword id="1974349" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="SantaCon">SantaCon</keyword>.</div></div>Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North, and New Jersey Transit systems have all issued a temporary ban on alcohol this weekend as they brace for SantaCon, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-real-reason-why-santa-con-sucks-2013-12">the annual pub crawl where participants dress as Santa</a>.
The Metropolitan <keyword id="34991" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="transportation">Transportation</keyword> Authority (<keyword id="170979" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="MTA">MTA</keyword>), which runs LIRR and Metro-North, said in its announcement that alcohol will not be allowed in its <keyword id="6360847" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Trains">trains</keyword> and stations from noon on Saturday until noon on Sunday, "to maintain orderly travel."
MTA police officers will be patrolling Grand Central Terminal, Penn Station, and other stations, it said. They will confiscate illegal liquor, and those caught drinking can face fines up to $50 or 30 days imprisonment.
While the MTA said SantaCon's "focus is on spontaneity and creativity, while have a good time," it noted that "in past years some participants have been cited as a public nuisance."
Business Insider reporter <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-real-reason-why-santa-con-sucks-2013-12" target="_blank">Linette Lopez has a more straightforward argument against the annual event</a>:
SantaCon is used as an excuse to competitively drink hard liquor the same way people drink beer on Super Bowl Sunday.
Now the rest of us New Yorkers can hide, or we can go about our business. By going about our business, though, we implicitly participate in the day. We give these drunken Santas people to torment.

New York's Transit Systems Ban Booze As They Brace For SantaCon This Weekend

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Carlo AllegriOh look, a good decision.</div></div></div>On Saturday, SantaCon, an all-day pub crawl where New Yorkers dress in Santa suits to allegedly celebrate the holiday season, will kick off in McCarren Park - the park that separates Williamsburg and Greenpoint.Apparently the organizers of this drunken disasterfest got permits to be able to invade the neighborhoods best known for HBO's 'Girls' and black skinny jeans. Apparently they're allowed to be there, to drink there, to embarrass themselves there.Fine.But there's a very clear reason they shouldn't be. It's a moral one, not a legal one. The reason is that SantaCon breaks things, dirties things, pees on things. And we, in the People's Republics of Williamsburg and Greenpoint, are really precious about our things.Let's contrast the two peoples - the people of SantaCon and the people of Williamsburg and Greenpoint.SantaCon is a day when a guy in Long Island gets up, calls Lauren (his girlfriend), puts on a Santa suit (no shirt), gets on a train (Long Island Railroad), comes to the city (our city) and plans to get drunk enough to black out during the day time. Usually this kind of thing happens in Midtown or Murray Hill, a place where seeing a bro yell "Lauren, you always get this way when you're drunk" while a crying girl vomits into a trashcan is common and expected. She (Lauren) is crying because she believes she lost the jacket that she is wearing.Those neighborhoods are prepared for events like SantaCon - events where a bar owner may have to break up a <a href="http://www.grubstreet.com/2013/12/santacon-horror-stories-2013.html">midday knife fight</a>, for example. Worst comes to worst, Lauren passes out in one of the many Starbucks locations within hobbling distance from one of the many terrible bars where she just did many shots of Fireball.By contrast, Williamsburg and Greenpoint are not ready for Lauren or her boyfriend.The people who have settled there have grown out of just being cigarette inhaling club kids and have grown into adults who name their kids "Tyger"(she's a girl). They like hand-made contemporary furniture and coffee that costs $7 a cup. They want to know where their chocolate came from. They (used to) worship a guy named James Murphy who fronted a band called LCD Soundsystem, and want to make the tone that sounds when you swipe a Metrocard more musical.They just opened an organic wine bar. It's really nice in there.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Jens Karlsson/Getty ImagesWilliamsburg, Brooklyn in the summer.</div></div></div>And that's the point here. The People's Republics of Williamsburg and Greenpoint are gentrifying fast, and they're doing that because the people who moved there created a great place to live. Its development is out of their hands now - there's a J. Crew and a Scotch &amp; Soda, and banker bros living in high rises - but that doesn't mean they want the stuff they built broken by a bunch of drunken creeps.So again, fine. We can't stop SantaCon from coming to our neighborhood. Just please don't break our stuff. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jim-cramer-daily-morning-routine-cnbc-mad-money-2015-12">Jim Cramer has what sounds like an absolutely exhausting daily routine</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="BsNWFmeTrD7hsDb7iAK-zQgcmKbbhbub" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

There's a reason why SantaCon isn't welcome in the most 'hipster' neighborhood in NYC

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Seth Wenig</div></div>On Saturday, there will be SantaCon, an all day pub crawl where New Yorkers dress in Santa suits to allegedly celebrate the holiday season.
It doesn't matter that bars tried to ban it, and it doesn't matter that there are horror stories on horror stories about things that have happened on this fateful day.
It's coming.
And the problem with it - the real problem - is that on SantaCon, New York City gets hazed, and New York City has no choice in the matter.
The City gets hazed by hundreds of drunken fools escaped from the Donkey Island where Pinnochio lost all semblance of shame. It gets hazed by girls who are crying because they lost their jacket. It gets hazed by the boyfriend holding that jacket who can't stop saying "you always get this way when you're drunk, Linsdsey."
It could be an awesome event. New York can handle St. Patrick's Day's coordinated outfits. It can handle the all-day drinking involved with the World Cup. New Years Eve, even. This is a town that survives tons and tons of outsiders coming in for New Years Eve. Yet we can't do SantaCon.
People - a bar owner actually saw a <a href="http://www.grubstreet.com/2013/12/santacon-horror-stories-2013.html">midday knife fight one year.</a>
During SantaCon, the moment someone puts on that Santa outfit, they do not decide to be a jolly twinkle-eyed gift giver with a love for sweets. They become the biggest, jerkiest, frat star on the planet and it's time for rush. There is a true sense of nastiness and mischief in the day.
This is only natural, as SantaCon is used as an excuse to competitively drink hard liquor the same way people drink beer on Super Bowl Sunday. 
Now the rest of us New Yorkers can hide, or we can go about our business. By going about our business, though, we implicitly participate in the day. We give these drunken Santas people to torment. We are the reindeer, the elves, and our town is the North Pole. We are the pledges.
There is no containing this, really. All we can do is be glad that Mayor Bloomberg has been so strict about concealed weapons.
SantaCon isn't about being merry or a sense of holiday community, it's about the kind of debauchery that has people lighting cars on fire after hockey games - the wild immature desire to invade, overrun and destroy a space that doesn't belong to you.
People do this because they want to feel powerful, they want to feel in control. In that way it is a perfect haze.
And it has to stop.

SantaCon Could Be Awesome, But Here's The Core Reason Why It's Atrocious

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Some Delta passengers have created a new pastime: a "Sky Club Crawl" through the airport.</li><li>The goal is to drink at each of Delta's lounges — without missing or getting kicked off the flight.</li></ul>If SantaCon has taught us anything, it's that hard-partying individuals love a bar crawl.Now, Redditors have invented an activity that answers the question, "What if you took one of these crawls and placed it within the confines of an airport?"The "Sky Club Crawl," as it's known on <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/delta/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the r/Delta subreddit</a>, doesn't require anyone to dress up like Santa. However, it requires participants to drink at each Delta lounge at any given airport. As with most competitions, there are a few rules: <ul><li>Drink one beer, wine, or shot at each Sky Club</li><li>Don't use the plane train</li><li>Don't cut people in line</li><li>Do it all in a single day</li><li>Tip your bartender</li></ul>And perhaps the most important of all: Don't miss your connection. Some airports make that harder than others — the Atlanta airport has nine Sky Clubs, meaning crawlers must down nine drinks before their flight. And because <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/10/17/flying-drunk-high-weed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">airlines can bar you from boarding</a> if you appear intoxicated, pounding nine drinks ahead of a flight can be risky.Although the idea has grown in popularity since it started cropping up on Reddit last fall, Delta told Insider it's not a company-sanctioned activity."Our Sky Clubs offer customers a place where they can work, relax and recharge before their next flight," a spokesperson said. "This is not a Delta-sanctioned activity and we encourage our customers to choose one Club to visit to ensure they receive the elevated experience our customers know and love."Some Redditors who've attempted the Atlanta Sky Club Crawl acknowledged the toll of the nine-drink challenge."Jesus Christ I'm incredibly drunk," one crawler wrote in a post. "Kudos to everyone before me and Godspeed to everyone after me."The Atlanta crawl appears to be the most popular, with several Redditors posting their experiences to the platform and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@tnice78/video/7223941668003663147?lang=en">TikTok</a>. Other participants have tested out the crawl elsewhere, with one even creating <a href="https://subredditswag.com/">luggage tags</a> for people who attempt the crawl in Minneapolis and Detroit, as well as Atlanta and a US-wide super crawl.An added challenge, particularly for the Atlanta crawl, is that Delta only allows passengers into its lounges three hours before their flight."9 drinks in 3 hours is quick, even for the guy who pretended he was at a college party," one Redditor commented in a post about the Atlanta challenge.The user went on to offer advice for users following in their footsteps, including checking bags and picking drinks wisely so as not to get too tipsy — or hungover, for that matter.

Delta passengers are embarking on 'Sky Club Crawls' to drink at every lounge in the airport — but the key is not getting too drunk to fly

<ul class="summary-list"><li>2020 was a rough year for <keyword id="12030580" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="christmas" source="Orion">Christmas</keyword> <keyword id="11894427" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tourism" source="Orion">tourism</keyword> in Midtown Manhattan, but it's rebounded in 2021.</li><li>Workers are happy to see crowds return, but say aggressive behavior and drunkenness are issues.</li></ul>After <a href="https://www.lohud.com/story/entertainment/2020/10/22/bryant-park-winter-village-luminocity-2020-safety/3719274001/">a scaled-back 2020</a>, <keyword id="12794778" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="bryant-park" source="Orion">Bryant Park</keyword>, one of <keyword id="11921345" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="new-york-city" source="Orion">New York City</keyword>'s iconic Christmas tourism spots, is once again operating in full force. Visitors from all over the country have filled the park, skating in the temporary ice rink and browsing the Winter Village, a collection of pop-up shops offering hot cocoa, gifts, and other Christmas delights. Tourists who stayed home for Christmas last year "just want to have a good time," said Ercan, a worker at one of the Bryant Park Winter Village shops. But that can come at a price for workers. Last week, Ercan was working a shift at his other holiday job, an ornament shop a few blocks away, when he realized his wallet had been stolen from out of his pocket. With the hustle and bustle of crowds flooding in from the nearby Broadway shows, he hadn't even realized it was gone. The sheer volume of people can make things tense, he said. "People get angry."<h2>Christmas in Midtown is back in a big way</h2><div type="image" title="photos tourists rockefeller christmas tree new york city" height="3841" width="5121" msid="88441775" hostid="261"></div>Step off of the train at <keyword id="12759198" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="rockefeller-center" source="Orion">Rockefeller Center</keyword>, 10 blocks north of Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan, and you'll find yourself in the heart of New York City's Christmas industry. Santas cheer from the tops of double-decker tour buses, families laugh as they twirl around the center's ice rink, and tourists mill about, taking selfies with the famed<a href="https://www.rockefellercenter.com/holidays/rockefeller-center-christmas-tree-lighting/"> 79-foot Christmas tree</a>. It's a stark contrast with Christmas 2020, when COVID concerns kept most tourists (and many locals) at home. Though the omicron variant has dampened spirits in recent days, most notably with <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2021/12/rockettes-cancel-rest-of-2021-christmas-shows-due-to-covid.html">the sudden cancellation of Radio City's Rockettes and several Broadway shows</a>, the holiday season up until now has been very busy. In November, TripAdvisor reported that New York City is<a href="https://tripadvisor.mediaroom.com/2021-11-03-NYC,-Paris,-London-Reign-Supreme-Travelers-Finally-Returning-to-Iconic-Cities-This-Winter?printable=1"> the most popular domestic travel destination</a> for Americans this winter, for the first time since the pandemic began. <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/holiday-crowds-flock-back-to-new-york-city-11638446401">According to the Wall Street Journal</a>, Black Friday pedestrian traffic on Fifth Avenue near Rockefeller Center was up 262% from 2020 to 2021, and city hotels had an occupancy rate of 79% this past Thanksgiving weekend, compared to 38% for Thanksgiving 2020. Making holiday magic for all those tourists takes a lot of work — and a lot of workers. Prior to the pandemic, New York City's tourism industry <a href="https://www.osc.state.ny.us/reports/osdc/tourism-industry-new-york-city">employed 283,200 people</a>, representing 7.2 percent of total private sector employment. That number fell to 194,200 in 2020, but with crowds returning, businesses have asked furloughed employees to return and put out blanket open calls for rapid hiring. In interviews with retail workers, security staff, ticket sellers, and food-service workers, many expressed gratitude that the Christmas crowds are back. But they also say that tourists' pent-up enthusiasm, combined with the ongoing national hiring shortage, is creating problems on the job, ranging from pushing and shoving to outright sexual assault.<h2>Too many people, not enough staff</h2><div type="image" title="Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in New York City" height="3912" width="5216" msid="88441776" hostid="261"></div>In the depths of Rockefeller Center, a security guard helps visitors navigate the large complex, pointing one group of guests towards the bathroom and assisting another with directions. (All of the workers we spoke to asked to be unnamed or use only first names, citing concerns about losing their jobs if they talked to the press.) The guard said the center was understaffed, making it difficult to keep the large, revolving crowds of tourists under control.An employee of a tour bus company, who also requested anonymity, said that Rockefeller Center was his least favorite station. The crush of customers can become aggressive, not affording him personal space while he is trying to load the bus. "People is crazy," he said, shaking his head.Workers say the worst crowding is yet to come. "Christmas week, that's when it gets crazy," said Hennessy, who sells high-end dog treats at the Bonne et Filou booth in Bryant Park's Winter Village. "That's when a lot of people come to do their last-minute shopping."<h2>Alcohol fuels the fire — especially when SantaCon comes to town</h2>Many workers said that alcohol is fueling the fire of already aggressive Christmas crowds.Chris, who is a manager at the open-air City Winery in Rockefeller Plaza, said that he and his coworkers had to remove a guest just that day, after he was "overserved by colleagues." While Chris said that most Rockefeller Center guests have been respectful, he noted that demand was high — and with so many people around, some amount of bad behavior was inevitable.Several Midtown bartenders said they were still recovering from their most intense day of the season: SantaCon. Marketed as a charity drive, the costume-clad bar crawl has become a drinking festival with a history of vomiting, public fornication, public urination, and general mischief. <div type="image" title="santacon" height="2663" width="3550" msid="88441777" hostid="261"></div>Despite the<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/09/santacon-new-york-debauchery-charity"> estimated 30,000</a> revelers who gathered in Midtown Manhattan on December 11, most New Yorkers seem to unite in a shared hatred for the event. And even with the increase in business (and tips), bar workers are very much a part of that group."It was packed all day, until about 5 AM," said Sergio, a bartender at a popular spot with the younger crowd. The bar's security was more than necessary that day, he said, with fights and drug use going on both inside and outside."We didn't have time to eat lunch or dinner," Sergio said. "But we made really good money."Some workers, however, dealt with customer behavior that couldn't be excused by extra tips. Angelo, a barback at a busy Irish bar, said he'd been sexually assaulted by several female Santas during the event. "When I was trying to pick up the [empty] glasses, a lot of the girls were grabbing parts that they shouldn't," he said. While he expressed distress to his coworkers, he declined to say if management ejected the customers. According to <a href="https://forwardtogether.org/tools/the-glass-floor/">a 2014 study</a> by Restaurant Opportunites Center United, nearly 80% of women and 55% of men in the food service industry have experienced some form of sexual harassment from customers. 11% of men and 17% of women specifically reported customers inappropriately kissing, groping or fondling them. In the state of New York, forcible touching of a person's intimate areas <a href="https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/130.52">is a class A misdemeanor</a>, punishable by <a href="https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/forensic/manual/html/chapter1.htm">a maximum of one year in jail or three years probation</a>, and a fine of up to $1,000.<h2>Many workers say they're just happy business is back to normal</h2>In interviews with Midtown Christmas workers, many said they were struggling to balance the excitement of a thriving customer base with the problems that arise in its wake. Some lost work in 2020, and say they're just happy to see that sales are up.While "we're not seeing the kind of international tourism that we typically see," things are still better than last year, said Iggy and Tony Pook, the energetic Canadian duo behind Pook Toques, a hat and sweater shop at Bryant Park Winter Village.<div type="image" title="christmas tree rockefeller ice skating new york city" height="2727" width="3635" msid="88441778" hostid="261"></div>Leon, who's in his second season as a Rockefeller Plaza security guard, was quick to point out the stark difference from last year. "When people come here, they picture greatness and happiness," he said. "They're positive." Sandra of Fairylights, a shop in the Bryant Park Winter Village, agreed. "Because of the COVID, I think everybody needs that," she said. "It's the magic of Christmas."

Stolen wallets and groping Santas: Midtown Manhattan's Christmas tourists are back — and so is their bad behavior

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<a href="http://statigr.am/viewer.php#/detail/318431821861471108_9218823">Instagram/@fasinfrank </a>
Go back to Long Island, all of you.
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</div></div>On Saturday, New York will play host to SantaCon, an all-day pub crawl where New Yorkers dress in Santa suits to allegedly celebrate the holiday season.
It doesn't matter that bars tried to ban it, and it doesn't matter that there are horror stories upon horror stories about things that have happened on this fateful day.
It's coming.
And the problem with it - the real problem - is that on SantaCon, New York City gets hazed, and New York City has no choice in the matter.&#xa0;
The city gets hazed by hundreds of drunken fools escaped from the Donkey Island where Pinocchio lost all semblance of shame. It gets hazed by immature children hiding behind a costume (because let's be real, no one who does this is over 25). It gets hazed by girls who are crying because they lost their jacket. It gets hazed by the boyfriend holding that jacket who can't stop saying,&#xa0;"You always get this way when you're drunk, Lindsey."
The problem with SantaCon is that it isn't about fun, it's about control. The same control a sorority girl exerts when she tells a freshman to get on their knees and quack like a duck. These Santas want to watch New York City quack.
It could be an awesome event. New York can handle St. Patrick's Day's coordinated outfits. It can handle the all-day drinking involved with the World Cup. New Years Eve, even. This is a town that survives tons and tons of outsiders coming in for New Year's Eve. Yet we can't do SantaCon.
Folks, a bar owner actually saw a <a href="http://www.grubstreet.com/2013/12/santacon-horror-stories-2013.html">midday knife fight one year.</a>&#xa0;This is why Bushwick took a stand and would not allow SantaCon near its cocktail bars, DIY art spaces, or farm-to-table restaurants. Roberta's Pizza is a citywide treasure, and we cannot have a swarm of drunken morons, say, urinating in the back yard.
We need to protect what's ours.
SantaCon will try to play the victim. The&#xa0;<a href="http://gothamist.com/2014/12/10/santacon_norman_siegel.php">organizers hired a civil rights lawyer</a> to defend and protect the festival, the same way protestors hire lawyers to protect them from police brutality. This is an insult.
It is not your civil right to have sex in a dumpster in broad daylight. It is not your civil right to get in a 20-person brawl outside a diner where families are eating.
It is not your right to get a hand job in a Duane Reade, and then pretend to be a lawyer so you can <a href="http://gawker.com/lawyer-for-santa-accused-of-public-handjob-demands-arti-1484998662">(with some pretend shred of credibility)</a> demand that sites like Gawker take down a story about it so that you are not publicly shamed. You should be publicly shamed. You should also stay home on Saturday.
During SantaCon, the moment someone puts on that Santa outfit, they do not decide to be a jolly, twinkle-eyed gift-giver with a love of sweets. They become the biggest, jerkiest frat star on the planet on the eve of pledge night. There is a true sense of nastiness and mischief in the day.
This is only natural, as SantaCon is used as an excuse to competitively drink hard liquor the same way people drink beer on Super Bowl Sunday. 
Now the rest of us New Yorkers can hide, or we can go about our business. By going about our business, though, we implicitly participate in the day. We give these drunken Santas people to torment. We are the reindeer, the elves, and our town is the North Pole. We are the pledges.
There is no containing this, really. All we can do is be glad that Mayor Bloomberg was so strict about concealed weapons.
SantaCon isn't about being merry or a sense of holiday community; it's about the kind of debauchery that causes people to light cars on fire after hockey games - the wild, immature desire to invade, overrun, and destroy a space that doesn't belong to you.
People do this because they want to feel powerful, they want to feel in control. In that way it is a perfect haze.
And it has to stop. We obviously can't handle it.
&#xa0;
<h3>NOW WATCH:&#xa0;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/drone-footage-of-a-desolate-detroit-2014-12">This Drone Footage Of Desolate Detroit Looks Like Something From 'The Walking Dead'</a></h3>
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NYC, Prepare To Be Hazed

APTrump poses for a photo with U.S. Coast Guard graduate Erin Leigh Reynolds during commencement exercises.In dealing with President Donald Trump, The New York Times' conservative columnist Ross Douthat <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/opinion/25th-amendment-trump.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wants to skip right past impeachment</a> to the 25th Amendment.That's the constitutional amendment that allows the Cabinet to declare a president incapacitated and suspend him from office - a suspension that, if the president objects, must be sustained by two-thirds majorities in both chambers of Congress.The amendment authorizes the suspension of a president who is "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office." I always took that to envision, for example, a president who is in a coma. But Ross argues it also applies to a president with an "incapacity to really govern" of the sort demonstrated by Trump.Ross' idea is bad, though it is at least interestingly bad.Trump's capacity to govern does not seem materially different from what it appeared it would be when a sufficient number of Americans voted six months ago to make him president. Correcting voter error is not what the 25th Amendment is for, and his voters would reasonably feel their judgment had been overridden in a way that is inconsistent with American constitutional norms - the ones we hope to retain after Trump's presidency ends.That's not to say Trump shouldn't be removed from office. The obvious grounds for doing so are not incapacity but bad acts, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-obstruction-of-justice-comey-memo-2017-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">such as obstructing justice</a> and giving sensitive intelligence to the Russians. The process for removal on those grounds is impeachment.One gets the sense that many Republicans in Congress would desperately like to trade Trump for Vice President Mike Pence, if only their voter base would allow them to do so. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-comey-tax-cuts-healthcare-obamacare-2017-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">"less drama" from the White House</a>; Sen. Bob Corker notes Trump's administration <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/republican-gop-response-trump-classified-intelligence-russia-leak-2017-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">is in a "downward spiral."</a> Rep. Darrell Issa is so stressed out that he <a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-issa-denies-he-flipped-off-reporter-1495028083-htmlstory.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">seems to have flipped a reporter</a> from Politico a middle finger in a capitol complex hallway on Tuesday. (Issa denied this.)If you squint, it's almost possible to imagine a situation in which the roar of Trump's scandals becomes deafening enough, and Trump's numbers with Republican voters become soft enough, that Republicans in Congress decide it is worth ripping off the Band-Aid and getting rid of him.In making Watergate comparisons, people have overstated the speed and frequency with which Republicans in Congress abandoned President Richard Nixon. Initially, Nixon's support from Republicans remained strong. Only a year and a half into the scandal, when extremely specific charges had emerged and Nixon's numbers had fallen very far, did sufficient Republican support for impeachment emerge that Nixon chose to resign.We're not there yet, but we could be. Except for one thing: Unlike Nixon, there is no way Trump will go quietly.Nixon left office with a 24% job approval rating in the Gallup poll. Obviously, 24% is a dismal number, but 24% of the electorate is a lot of people. Imagine if Nixon had spent 1974 running around the country screaming that Republicans had cheated him and that voters should stay home in protest, as Trump would surely do. Imagine if Nixon had kept doing so in 1976 and 1978 and 1980.Given Trump's vindictiveness and total lack of ideological commitment to the Republican Party, and given the fact that he surely views the office of the presidency as one of the key tools standing in the way of the prosecution of himself and a wide variety of his associates, it is hard for me to imagine a situation Republicans in Congress are politically better off crossing him than defending him - no matter how exasperating they may come to find him, and no matter how much he may do to interfere with their legislative and political prerogatives.You will have the presidency when you pry it from Trump's cold, dead hands. If Republicans in Congress try to take it, they will just end up slap-fighting like two drunk SantaCon Santas until they both slide, grabbing onto one another, into a slush puddle of electoral obliteration.This is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-real-reason-why-santa-con-sucks-2013-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">why you don't go to SantaCon</a>. And it's why you don't become a Republican elected official. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dog-before-after-100-years-breeding-science-german-shephard-dachsund-bull-terrier-bulldog-shetland-sheepdog-2017-5">Here's what popular dog breeds looked like before and after 100 years of breeding</a></h3> Please enable Javascript to watch this video

Republicans have no good way to rid themselves of Donald Trump

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>US stocks have had a great year, with the S&amp;P 500 climbing 12% since the beginning of the year.
The S&amp;P has been outperforming the world's developed markets, <a href="http://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/World-Market-Snapshot.php">while lagging China and India</a>.
For global investors, the question is whether or not to crank up or scale back exposure to US stocks after the massive gains we've already seen.
Charles Schwab's Jeff Kleintop thinks the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/will-international-stocks-outperform-in-2015-2014-11">US current account data can help</a> with this decision.
At a <a href="https://twitter.com/bySamRo/status/540517206279614464">media event on Thursday</a>, Kleintop said he'll pay close attention to the next update on the current account - which measures trade and investment flows in and out of the US - which <a href="http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/international/transactions/transnewsrelease.htm">comes on December 17</a>.
"US stocks outperformed international stocks when the US current account improved as a percentage of GDP," Kleintop noted. "International stocks outperformed US stocks when the US current account worsened as a share of GDP."
"Importantly, the current account tends to lead relative market performance by about three quarters, providing investors with ample time to adjust their portfolios ahead of any change in the performance trend," he said.
The current account balance as a percent of GDP has flattened recently (see the blue line in the third chart), suggesting we may be coming to an inflection point.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"></div></div>"US petroleum exports are soaring," he noted. "However, the US trade balance in other goods has been rapidly deteriorating. These two factors have offset each other lately. As a result, the current account could be near a change of direction. The key to that direction in 2015 may be the dollar."
While there may be change coming to these balances, Kleintop continues to favor US stocks over non-US stocks.
"The current account data for the third quarter will be released on December 17," he said. "I will be watching this closely for signs of a change in direction, but for the time being the current account, relative valuations, and relative growth prospects all suggest U.S. stocks are likely to continue to outperform the broad international benchmarks."

Global Stock Market Investors Should Mark Their Calendars For This December 17 Report

<div class="image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><a href="http://www.weather.com/weather/map/interactive">The Weather Channel</a></div></div></div>NEW YORK (Reuters) - Another round of wintry <keyword id="6359992" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Weather">weather</keyword> battered the U.S. Midwest and East Coast on Saturday as a massive storm spanning more than 1,000 miles dumped heavy snow, snarling air traffic and making roads treacherous for driving.
Airlines reported weather-related delays and cancellations, with major airports in Chicago, Washington, New York City and Newark, New Jersey, scrubbing dozens of flights, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and FlightStats.com.
The fast-moving snowstorm stretched from Missouri to Maine, as a steady rain fell in the southeastern states.
The storm will "produce a pretty good swath of snow over about a 24-hour period," said Brian Korty, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
The heaviest accumulation was expected in central Pennsylvania, New York state and interior New England, which could see between 4 and 8 inches of snow. Mountainous areas and parts of eastern Maine could be walloped by a foot of snow.
More than 110 million people across the Midwest and along the East Coast will be affected, said AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.
"Snow will fall on and impact every major city and rural area from St. Louis to Boston, including Chicago, Detroit,Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York City," he said.
By midday on Saturday, areas of north-central Illinois reported 7 inches of snow over the past 24 hours, while the town of Warsaw, New York, near Lake Ontario, reported 21 inches, according to the National Weather Service.
Snow started falling early in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, with the heaviest accumulations expected through the evening and overnight hours, forecasters said. Up to six inches of accumulation was expected in major cities on the East Coast, forecasters said.
The same region was slammed a week ago by another massive storm system that left parts of the Mid-Atlantic and East Coast shoveling out from a half-foot of snow.
Utility companies across the region put extra crews on duty and made preparations for possible outages.
New York City's Sanitation Department for a second Saturday issued a snow alert and was readying its fleet of some 365 salt spreaders, 282 front-end snow loaders and 1,800 plows.
The driving snow was a sobering reality check for an expected 35,000 pub crawlers dressed like Santa Claus, who came to New York for the annual SantaCon. The revelers wore Santa suits or red minidresses with white trim and nearly all had Kris Kringle hats topped with a white pom-pom.
The precipitation and freezing temperatures made roads and highways treacherous for drivers. Michigan State Police said they had handled 20 crashes since midnight, including one fatal accident.
The snowstorm comes on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year during one of the shortest holiday buying seasons with only four weeks separating Thanksgiving and Christmas.
At a shopping mall north of Philadelphia, schoolteacher Amanda Nixon, 30, arrived early with her 9-year-old daughter hoping to get errands done before the snow picked up later in the day.
"We like the snow," she said, "We just don't like to drive in it."
Nixon said she thought other shoppers would put off holiday gift buying because of the second weekend of bad weather.
"I think a lot of people are nervous that this is going to be another big one," she said.
AccuWeather said the system was expected to move out of the area by Sunday, but slushy conditions could turn icy in frigid evening temperatures.
(Additional reporting by Dave Warner in Philadelphia. Editing by Barbara Goldberg, Vicki Allen and Gunna Dickson)

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