A Society of Santas Takes to N.Y. Streets

The Santas came in droves, invading the streets of Manhattan. There were 75 total--some plump, some skinny, some flamboyantly dressed.

“Look, Timmy,” blurted one jovial dad to his wide-eyed son, pointing to a muscular male St. Nick bedecked in a crimson skirt and stockings. “That Santa Claus is wearing the same kind of dress your mommy wears.”

If things were slightly askew this holiday season, it’s because these jolly Kriss Kringles were members of the Cacophony Society--a playfully subversive organization specializing in wild antics.

Masterminded by the Brooklyn Cacophony chapter, this year’s Santacon, the official name of the folkloric fatman frolic that originated in San Francisco five years ago and that has made appearances in L.A., was taking place in the empire state for the first time.

Two years ago, at the 1996 Santacon, Portland, Ore., police responded in riot gear and arrested two Santas who passed out gifts wrapped in torn pages from vintage Playboys. No one knew what to expect from New York law enforcement Saturday.

But once on the city’s streets, all that was on the minds of these rabble-rousers was having fun.

In line with the group’s agenda of keeping Santacon full of “spontaneous action,” the partying posse joined a China-Out-of-Mongolia protest at Times Square. Thirty minutes later, they held a mock rally in front of the United Nations building, wielding signs that read “Make Toys Not War.”

Members of the Cacophony Society contend that their actions are not political.

“If fun has political content, so be it, [but] it needs no justification,” said Santa William, a key Cacophony member. “Fun is more important than politics.”

Busy shoppers and their children, most either bewildered or ecstatic, parted the red sea of Santas. The Claus clan reveled in chanting “Charge it!” while marching inside Saks Fifth Avenue, singing ribald Christmas parodies and passing out gift-wrapped chunks of coal.

“I was surprised how New Yorkers reacted,” one Santa said. “People were just happy. No one harassed us.” Another participant, who traveled from Denver to attend Santacon, said, “I do stuff like this because it makes me feel real again. Just watching people’s faces, that’s what it is for me. I couldn’t stop grinning.”