No Santa This Year At Macy’s Flagship Manhattan Store

The New York Daily News reports:

Santa Claus is not coming to town this year. Macy’s announced Thursday that jolly o’ Saint Nick wouldn’t be making the trip to its flagship location in Manhattan this holiday season, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

The company said it would be impossible to have visitors socially distance, given that over a quarter million people descend on the Herald Square store annually to visit the man in the red suit, according to the Associated Press.

Macy‘s decided to break from its 160-year tradition, and instead will invite visitors to play games and take a virtual selfie with Santa on the company website.

No Kringle: Macy’s says Santa Claus won’t be greeting kids at its flagship New York store this year due to the coronavirus, interrupting a holiday tradition started nearly 160 years ago. https://t.co/4aTNhGvFND #odd

— AP Oddities (@AP_Oddities) October 22, 2020