People dressed as Santa, decorated trees and other Christmas-themed costumes waited Saturday to get into bars and party in Hoboken for SantaCon.

The event is not sanctioned by the city and kept patrols busy all day.

"This is for 20-somethings to…drink and be disorderly,” says Chief Ken Ferrante. “Our officers get challenged, they get yelled at, they get spit at…This is an event that I've been publicly well against."

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Hoboken's Mayor Ravi Bhalla says he would like the bars involved in SantaCon this year to consider stepping away next year.

“I would ask them not to participate in any event, whether it's LepreCon or SantaCon, that leads to disorderliness. That leads to a tax burden on our residents through police overtime, that leads to violence in the streets,” says Bhalla.

HobokenSantaCon.com described SantaCon, in part, as an annual charity event, inviting participants to bring new toys or donations to help a child in need. Chief Ferrante called that a fraudulent message.

"I didn't see one present taken off a PATH train or at a bar line," he says.

The chief says officers will be on patrol as long as people are still partying in the streets.