Thousands in holiday costumes revel at SantaCon

Santas arrived by the thousands and oversized elves cavorted with saucy Mrs Clauses as a police helicopter circled overhead. Welcome to SantaCon, the annual Christmastime parade-meets-pub-crawl that was hoping this year would persuade New York it's more nice than naughty.

Saturday's festivities began with a mix of safety messages and psyching-up: "Can I get a 'ho'?!"

Jessica Carr and Victoria Pirolli said they were at their fifth SantaCon for the creativity, not the carousing that earned the event an out-of-control reputation in recent years. Organizers said the event also raises tens of thousands of dollars for charity.