New York City's SantaCon returned this year as hundreds took part in drunken debauchery after the booze-fueled festival was cancelled last year due to the pandemic.
The event brought countless of maskless Santas, Grinches, reindeers and other holiday-themed characters to the Big Apple on Saturday to march, crawl through pubs and celebrate Christmas.
NYC's booze-fueled SantaCon returns after one-year hiatus as hundreds of maskless revelers flood the city's bars https://t.co/E9ibQaTJKT
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) December 12, 2021
The fun times come amid concerns that the gathering might serve as a super-spreader for the COVID-19 Omicron variant, which has now been spotted in half of U.S. states, including New York.
At least 43 people in the country have contracted Omicron, with New York confirming 20 cases of the variant as of Friday, 13 of which were located in the city. New York has reported more than 11,000 new COVID cases over the past day and 80 new deaths.
The annual pub crawl usually results in revelers being flagged for public urination, littering, and the usual disorder that results from mass drunkenness.
Hundreds of this year's attendees also went maskless, even after outgoing NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio warned of further Omicron spread in the city.
'We gotta assume there's a lot more behind that and that it has been here for a meaningful amount of time,' he said, warning more cases of the variant 'were now inevitable.'
New York received its first confirmation of the Omicron variant in late November, after a Minnesota man attending the Anime NYC convention on November 22 tested positive for the virus.
Hochul also said Thursday that that man only suffered very mild symptoms, and has since recovered. She stated that there was no cause for alarm and that the state has the tools to stop the spread as Hochul reinstated New York's mask mandate for all indoor venues unless the business requires customers to be vaccinated.
The Omicron COVID-19 variant is now in 25 states, after Arizona, Iowa, Michigan and Virginia joined the growing list on Thursday or Friday morning.
While Omicron dominates headlines, the Delta variant continues its spread nationwide, causing a 30 percent increase in new daily cases and 20 percent increase in deaths over the past two weeks.
You better watch out, New Yorkers. SantaCon is coming to town. pic.twitter.com/zplQtopEbk
— Gossip Girl (@gossipgirl) December 10, 2021
Under de Blasio's instructions, the city will maintain a mask-free environment for its New Years Eve festival as well.
Authorities in New York have managed to contain the fallout in recent years after mass transit banned carrying alcohol, and police beefed up their presence while getting advance notice of the pub crawl route, which began on Broadway.
The SantaCon NYC Facebook group organizing the event also reminded members to avoid any mayhem and leave behind the event's notorious past of drunken violence.
'Don't be the one who ruins a good time. Help out where you can. It's a merry day and we want to keep it that way,' the organization wrote on the group page just before the event began.
Still, the festivities were not without incident as police were spotted throughout the city, distributing tickets and breaking up fights between Santas.
MTA Police Chief Joseph McGrann told ABC 7 that the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North trains and platforms will keep its alcohol ban up until noon Sunday.
'There may be riders coming back to the train for the first time since the start of the pandemic,'McGrann said.
'It is important we do everything we can to maintain orderly travel so that everyone can enjoy their holiday plans by getting to their destinations smoothly and on time.'
This article has been adapted from its original source.
