SantaCon’s drunken Kris Kringles found coal in their stockings Saturday morning in the form of neighborhood activists jeering the annual Manhattan bar crawl.
Two protesters were ticketed — for using megaphones without a permit — at about 11 a.m. as about 1,000 Santas gathered around the Flatiron Building to begin their boozy trek through Gramercy, East Village and Midtown.
“I saw a sex act in Aisle Four of Duane Reade!” one yelled as Santas showered him with boos. “You guys are doing a bad thing, and it makes everyone sad.”
One group of neighborhood activists went so far as to put up posters saying the event had been canceled, hoping to preempt the march of merrymakers who dress as elves, gingerbread people and Father Christmas clones.
But the protests and freezing temperatures did not dissuade the jolly elves from their rounds — many, many rounds — at some 50 participating pubs.
“We’re just trying to get s–tfaced,” said Josh Bryce, 28, who took his sleigh from Baltimore with friends. “We’re just hoping to have a good night.”
Megan Meritz, 23, was attracted to the drink specials.
“Three-dollar margaritas! You can’t beat that,” she said. “And you can wear comfy clothes.”
It’s not all tomfoolery.
Last year’s pub crawl brought in $95,721 in contributions through $10 fees paid by the Santas and a portion of proceeds from participating watering holes, according to documents obtained by The Post.
The tipsy St. Nicks can even get a tax deduction for their largesse. Event organizers formed a nonprofit with the innocuous name of Participatory Safety Inc. and received tax-exempt status last year from the IRS.
In its application to the IRS, Participatory Safety characterized its mission as bringing “arts events to underserved communities.” There is no mention of sloshed Santas.
“We believe that SantaCon is an art form as well,” said Stefan Pildes, 41, the president of Participatory Safety. “It’s a creative expression. People get quite elaborate and creative in their costumes.”
Its 2015 tax filing lists $41,455 in expenses to put on SantaCon, including $4,552 for “travel and meetings.”
Participatory Safety donated $21,000 to six groups, Pildes said.
Additional reporting by Aaron Short
What the heck is santa con anyway?: