Ever wonder what Santa is wearing under his suit?
Residents of Astoria discovered the Christmas secret on December 3, when more than 100 streaking Santas raced around the neighborhood. The second annual Santa Streak, organized by Ran Craycraft, founder of the blog whyleaveastoria.com, was held this past weekend in order to gather coats for donation to New York Cares. The event, which began at Hellgate on the Park for a pre-streak party, lasted from noon to 4 p.m.
“This is a fun event that gets peoples’ attention and helps the less fortunate stay warm whenever it gets cold this winter,” said Craycraft, an Astoria resident. “We are big fans of New York Cares and we have done this event for two years now, but we’ve also had other coat drives. Three years ago we got about five coats, and now that we are doing something more risqué, we got about 200 coats this year. So this is a good way to get some attention and get more coats for the needy.”
Once the Santas were ready to brave the cold, the holiday mob marched around Astoria, visiting sections of Shore Drive and Ditmars and Astoria boulevards. The run lasted roughly a mile, after which the jolly old Saint Nicks’ re-commenced their party at a local bar.
According to Craycraft, participants were creative in preparing for the streak, displaying a wide spectrum of costume themes, ranging from more conservative tutus and leotards to men who were topless or wearing Christmas thongs.
“I don’t think we have any choice but to do this again next year,” he said. “People really like it. We have a great turnout and it is for a wonderful cause. It would be irresponsible not to do it again.”
