From:

Santacon2015Organizers
and
NormanSiegel,CivilRightsAttorney
To:
StateSenatorHoylman,
StateSenatorEspailat,
StateSenatorKrueger,
StateSenatorSquadron,
AssemblyMemberGlick,
AssemblyMemberGottfried,
AssemblypersonRosenthal,
CityCouncilGarodnick,
CityCouncilJohnson,
CityCouncilMendez,
ComptrollerStringer,
BoroughPresidentBrewer,

SantaconorganizershavebeencommunicatingwithSenatorHolymansofficeforthreeyears
now,andinthattimewehavelistenedtoandaddressedhisconcernsaboutourevent.We
havebeentailoringSantaconeachyearduringthisperiodtomitigateitsnegativeaspects.
Concerningthethreeitemsyouarerequesting,theyhavealreadybeenaddressed:

WehavesharedourrouteandplanwiththeNYPD(includingCommunityAffairsand
affectedlocalprecincts)andtheParksDepartment.

Eachyearwebroadcastnotificationstoourparticipants(viaTextMessages,Twitterand
Facebook)duringtheeventonhowtobesafeandenjoySantaconresponsibly.
Additionally,thisyearwearepartneringwiththeNYPDontheirVisionZeroinitiative,
andwillberetweetingtheirpublicservicemessagesthroughouttheday.

Wedoselfpolice(eventhoughweare
not
aprivateevent),andhavereduced
pedestriansafetyriskasaresult.Forexample,weinstructparticipantstonottakeupthe
entirepublicsidewalkandtoobeytrafficrulesandregulations.Wewelcomeanydata
youmayhavetothecontrary.Thatbeingsaid,wewillalwayswelcomeadditional
suggestions,includingtheonesyouhavementionedinyourletter.

WehavebeenincommunicationwiththePoliceDepartmentandParksDepartmentforovera
monthnowandhavedevelopedour2015route,plan,andstrategywiththem.Asaresultofthis
kindofdiligence,our2014eventsawzeroarrestsandzerocitations.Amajorportionofour
routewillbepublicallyreleasedWednesdayeveningandThursdaymorning,afulltwodays
early.FinaldetailswillnotbereleaseduntilFridayevening,inaccordancewiththetraditionsof
ourevent,at
santacon.nyc
.

Finally,Santaconisnotabarcrawlasyoucallit.Thousandsofyourconstituentsenjoyand
takepartinSantacon,(thevastmajorityofparticipantsresideinNYC).Atthispoint,Santaconis
aNewYorkCityholidaytraditionformany.WeinviteyoutojoinusonDecember12th,toobtain
firsthandknowledgeofSantacon.Itisafully
public
event,opento
anyone
wearingaholiday
themedcostume,withnoadditionalrequirements,and/orticketsneeded.

SantaconNYCOrganizers
and
NormanSiegel,CivilRightsAttorney