43 santathon Photos by Angy Altamirano BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO The Santas came to town to celebrate a festive night for charity. Sunnyside’s Boulevard Bars, a collective of 10 bars and restaurants on and around Queens Boulevard, held the Second Annual Sunnyside Santathon pub crawl for charity on December 7. The group raised $10,000 in monetary and toy donations. All who took part in this year’s Santathon were dressed in their best Santa attire, and some even came as Santa’s little helpers. The participating bars were Bar 43, The Courtyard Ale House, Maggie Mae’s, The Gaslight, Arriba Arriba, Sidetracks, Molly Blooms, PJ Horgan’s, McGuinness Pub and Bliss Street Station. Brian Scutch, 27, from Bayside, heard about the holiday event from his friend Travis Silverstein, 29, who lives in Sunnyside. The two friends decided to put on their best Santa hats and start their crawl at Bar 43, located at 43-06 43rd Street. “Who wouldn’t participate,” asked Scutch, 27. “You’re given the opportunity to drink with fellow Santas.” The collective made their fi rst donation on December 12 at the United Forties Civic Association Holiday at St. Teresa’s Church in Woodside joined by representatives from the church, St. Raphael’s Church, 108th Precinct Captain Brian Hennessy and Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer. The group also donated money to the food pantries at both churches. “It just feels fantastic to be able to give back to the community,” said Liz Taylor, manager of Bliss Street Station. “The little kids will wake up Christmas morning and have something to play with.” The organizations receiving toys included St. Teresa’s and St. Raphael’s Church, the 108th Precinct Toy Drive, MercyFirst Angel Guardian Orphanage in Brooklyn, and Metro Homeless Shelter. This year’s donations doubled from the inaugural Santathon last year. “When you see the smiles on kids’ faces, you know it’s all for a good cause,” said Nicholas Murphy, general manager at Bar 43. “We want to try to keep it clean and no trouble. We want to have fun and raise money for the children.” Each bar also kept collecting new, unwrapped toy donations up until Christmas. “Honestly it’s all for the kids to get toys for Christmas,” said Patrick Burke, owner of The Courtyard Ale House. “It’s growing, which is great to see. It’s a lot of fun,” For more information on Sunnyside’s Boulevard Bars, visit www.facebook.com/Sunnysides- BoulevardBars.
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