Thousands of revelers descend on NYC for annual Santa-themed bar crawl SantaCon

NEW YORK — Here come Santa Claus. Again.

Throngs of people dressed as jolly Old St. Nick descended on New York City for the annual SantaCon charity pub crawl on Saturday.

The booze-filled outing, which included more than a few Grinches, elves and other Christmas costumes, began at 10 a.m. at bars and clubs in midtown Manhattan. Revelers were expected to head downtown, where festivities end at 8 p.m. at local bars in the East Village.

Organizers encouraged participants to donate $15 to enter participating venues, which they said will go to charitable causes.

Similar Christmas-themed bacchanals were scheduled for Saturday in cities across the United States and Europe, from San Francisco and Cincinnati to London and Berlin.

As in previous years, transportation agencies hoped to prevent the revelry from causing too much chaos on the country’s busiest rail system.

Commuter rail lines in New Jersey and the New York suburbs banned passengers from drinking on trains headed to Manhattan from 4 a.m. Saturday to noon Sunday.

The New York Police Department also reminded revelers that the city’s open container laws prohibiting consuming alcohol on the street still apply.

“Ensuring everyone has access to safe and orderly travel is a top priority,” Metropolitan Transit Authority Police Chief John Mueller said in a statement this week announcing the restrictions. “The holiday season is a wonderful time of year and we want everyone to get to their destination safely and on time while enjoying the festivities.”