The quote below [Time] puts it so nicely.
‘People dressed as Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus celebrate in Times Square as they gather for the annual Santacon festivities on Dec. 13, 2014 in New York.
Organizers had promised to tone down the annual booze-soaked event this yearUndaunted by the popular backlash against the notoriously rowdy annual gathering, Santacon returned to the streets of New York this year, with thousands donning Santa suits on Saturday for the annual booze-and-Christmas-cheer-fueled bar crawl.’
In theory they are raising money for charity. What it looks like however is a lot of frat boys dressed up in red with hats, drinking as early as 10 am on a Saturday morning and not stopping until someone puts them in a cab to save them from certain death of alcohol poisoning. And what it sounds like is that groups of them find no better place to stand and call to each other than on my street. The saving grace this year, it is cold! And the cold keeps the females from pub crawling, they are more likely to stay put. Only when they all gather in Times Square – I have no information why they do, or what they are hearing –
This link will give you a visual: Time.com/3632806/santacon-new-york-christmas