The News-Times

Metro-North bans booze for NYC SantaCon this weekend

- By Jim Shay

Metro-North will have a 24-hour booze ban on its trains during the SantaCon in New York City this weekend.

The annual event combines a costume parade and a drinking-drenched pub crawl that has sometimes resulted in raucous incidents involving way too merry Santas.

The ban is in effect from noon Saturday to noon on Sunday.

Alcohol will not be permitted on Metro-North trains and stations to maintain safe and orderly travel during this weekend’s SantaCon event, Metro-North said.

MTA police officers will be on duty at Grand Central Terminal and stations throughout Metro-North territory as well as on trains to enforce the 24-hour restrictio­n.

MTA police will confiscate alcoholic beverages and issue summonses carrying fines or imprisonme­nt, they said.

Violators may also be subject to removal from the train or station by police.

SantaCon day, held annually in early December, is one of three times a year the MTA bans alcohol.

 ?? Kena Betancur/Getty Images file photo ?? Revelers dressed as Santa Claus run at Tompkins Square Park during the annual SantaCon bar crawl event in 2013 .
Kena Betancur/Getty Images file photo Revelers dressed as Santa Claus run at Tompkins Square Park during the annual SantaCon bar crawl event in 2013 .

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