New Yorkers party in the holidays with kindler, gentler, Santacon 2013

Hundreds of revelers took to the streets of the Lower East Side for the 2013 Santacon on March 14. The annual celebration where event-goers dress up like Santa Claus, carol through the streets, hand out gifts to strangers and drink their way through the city, faced a backlash this year from the police and some bar owners. The NYPD passed out a letter to midtown bars warning them not to allow drunken Santa Clauses while some East Side bars decided to form an Anti-con where they posted signs warning that Santacon revelers were not welcome.