SANTAS COME TO TOWN

Santas flood streets and bars in annual rite

WELCOME TO SantaCon 2017, where the boozy revelers were read their rights Saturday before descending on the bars of Midtown.

“You have a First Amendment Right to assemble as you’re doing now,” veteran civil rights attorney Norman Siegel told the crowd gathered beneath the Corinthian columns of the Farley Post Office.

“You have a First Amendment right to express yourself. And most important, you have a First Amendment right to have fun.”

So began the annual crimson plague known as Santacon, fueled by cigarettes and peppermint schnapps against a backdrop of winter’s first snowfall.

Comedian Mike Oldroyd, 31, sported a picture-perfect elf outfit as he offered a defense of the oft-derided preChristmas party.

“We’re having fun, we’re getting in the Christmas spirit, we’re kicking off the festivities, interacting with people, and we’re going to have a couple beers,” the Manhattan man explained.

“I don’t personally plan on getting drunk. Anybody who gets out of control takes away from the spirit of the day.”

The 19th annual charity event endures a yearly backlash from New Yorkers repulsed by the sight of Santas vomiting or urinating in the street in years past.

The NYPD reported just one arrest in the first few hours of SantaCon as the celebrants began moving from bar to bar after their 10:30 a.m. pep talk from Siegel.

The bad Santa, age 23, might need his right to an attorney after an afternoon bust for assault, obstruction of government administration and resisting arrest, cops said.

The overall good behavior was spurred in part by an NJ Transit crackdown banning all beverages on its trains, buses and light rail vehicles for Saturday and early Sunday.

Reveler Brian Kelly, 31, came to the city from Tarrytown, Westchester County, for his first SantaCon in a mellow mood.

“We’re just going to jingle a few bells,” said Kelly, wearing his own elf get-up, before sharing his guideline for participants.

“Don’t be a drunken idiot,” he explained. “There’s going to be a lot of cheer spread, and we don’t want anything to ruin it.”

While the crushed beer cans and empty liquor bottles outside the Eighth Ave. post office attested to those getting an early start, some partiers weren’t quite ready for that first cocktail.

“It’s still early — Santa still hasn’t had my coffee,” said one stone-cold sober 25-year-old St. Nick. “Actually, I’m supposed to have had milk and cookies.

“But one thing a lot of people don’t know about Santa is that he’s lactose intolerant.”