NIMBYs to SantaCon: Don't Even Think About Coming to the Lower East Side

No one wants Santa in their neighborhood this year. SantaCon pulled out of Bushwick last week after nearly every bar in the area promised to ban the red-robed and bearded revelers. Now, a neighborhood association called LES Dwellers is campaigning to make Hell's Square (Houston to Delancey, Allen to Essex) a SantaCon Free Zone, reports DNAinfo. The group sent letters to local bars encouraging them to ban drunk Santas, plus flyers for them to hang in their windows that read "SantaCon Free Zone. Not Serving Santas."

SantaCon organizers refuse to reveal the route of this year's event, but have promised Community Board 3 — which covers much of downtown on the East side including Hell's Square — that the pub crawl won't have a stop on the Lower East Side. In a statement, assemblyman Sheldon Silver said, "I am glad that the organizers of SantaCon have listened....and have agreed not to hold their event on the Lower East Side....I expect them to honor that commitment." But, even if the official Santa march leaves the Lower East Side untouched, there's no guarantee that some Santas won't show. There's always the after party, which has wreaked havoc on the neighborhood in years past.