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Naughty Santas Allegedly Raided & Robbed East Village Bar During SantaCon
By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 13, 2016
Modified Dec 13, 2016
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 13, 2016
Modified Dec 13, 2016
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Yesterday, after shaking off our SantaCon 2016 hangover, we greeted the cold light of the workweek by surveying all the naughty Santas who left a trail of spilled beer, discarded holiday apparel, and urine across lower Manhattan. But we left out one of the worst incidents to have reportedly taken place during the event: an East Village bar claims that a group of partying Santas accessed the lower-level lounge area, stole alcohol, and generally wrecked the place.
One and One pub owner Paul O’Sullivan told the Daily News that the incident happened around 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. The bad Santas "managed to storm in, rob all the booze, smash up all the glassware and steal all the Christmas decorations," he said. O'Sullivan added that he walked in to witness half a dozen people in santa suits standing on top of the bar, drinking straight from bottles of his liquor, with "maybe a hundred more" passing around stolen alcohol and smashing glasses. O'Sullivan called the cops, who kicked the revelers out.
Overall, he estimates that the establishment, located at the nexus of 1st Avenue and 1st Street, suffered around $5,000 of damage. EV Grieve picked up on the story as it was happening that day, and police confirmed that they responded to the location, although no one was arrested at the time. Over 100 summonses for disorderly conduct were given out throughout the day.
One of the Santas who was there that afternoon, a current or former University Of Miami student named Jennie, emailed the bar the next day to try to get her phone back, which she had left behind. When O'Sullivan questioned her about taking part in the plundering, she claimed she was "simply on the premises trying to return a bottle of booze that one of her friends had stolen."
We've contacted SantaCon organizers for comment. In the meantime, here's an exclusive recreation of the incident:
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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