NYC SantaCon 2013: LIRR, New Jersey Transit Ban Booze for Troublesome Santas

New Yorkers will be forced to keep their spiked eggnog and any other alcoholic beverages tucked away if they're planning to commute on the Long Island Railroad on Saturday and Sunday morning.

Starting on Dec. 14 at noon, alcohol will be strictly prohibited on the LIRR due to the transit agency's 24-hour ban which ends Sunday at 12 p.m. The LIRR, which usually allows patrons to drink on board during happy hours, is enforcing the restriction due to SantaCon, a day when people dressed in Santa Claus costumes are known to drunkenly patrol NYC streets causing havoc during a daylong bar crawl.

"We do it based on experience, based on when we've had difficulties....when we're going to be inundated with a lot of people under 21, or maybe just over 21, where they've created problems in the past," LIRR spokesman Salvatore Arena told DNAinfo.

Arena added that though the LIRR typically allows passengers to drink alcohol aboard the train, it does "occasionally institute a ban for short periods of time" such as on St. Patrick's Day and the night before Thanksgiving. They also mandate a late-night booze ban on Fridays and Saturdays, the Gothamist reports.

"We want to make sure the ride in and the ride out is a peaceful one," Arena said.

"There was obviously some history to this in which there were disorderly conduct issues on the LIRR in previous years," said LIRR spokesman Salvatore Arena of SantaCon. "MTA police say they've found once they did this things went much more smoothly."

This is the second year LIRR has banned booze on SantaCon.

In addition, the New Jersey Transit annoucned that is will also take similar steps this weekend.