Bad Santa: SantaCon NYC 2015 Travel Info

By Rich Scinto

Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road will once again ban alcohol on trains due to the weekend SantaCon event.

Alcohol will not be permitted on Long Island Rail Road trains and in stations from 11 p.m. on Friday, December 11 through noon on Sunday, December 13. The Long Island Rail Road’s event-specific ban partially coincides with the LIRR’s usual ban on alcohol between midnight and 5 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

Alcohol will not be permitted on Metro-North Railroad trains and in stations from 5:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 12 through noon on Sunday, December 13.

SantaCon NYC begins at 10 a.m. Dec. 12. It is described as a, “...non-commercial, non-political, non-sensical Santa Claus convention that happens once a year for absolutely no reason.”

The event involves people dressing up in full Santa, elf or other festive costumes and going on a bar crawl.

More specific information can be found on the SantaCon Twitter page, Facebook event page,

MTA Police will be on duty at stations throughout the region and on trains to enforce the ban.

Any alcohol found will be confiscated and summonses carrying potential fines or imprisonment will be issued. Violators may also be subject to removal from the train or station by police.

New York City Police Department also reminds people to not walk around with open containers and to keep noise level outside to a minimum.

Image via NYPD