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1785 days ago

Auckland's 'creepy' Santa gets the sack

Brian from New Lynn

Auckland's Santa, which has proudly towered above Queen Street for almost 60 years, is being retired after this year's festive season. First installed in 1960 on the Farmers building on Hobson street the 19-metre statue has polarised Aucklanders. In 2011 he was named as the world's most unintentionally creepy Christmas decoration by Cracked.com. An attempt to retire him in 2014 was met with backlash by the public and a number of companies banded together to keep him going. A statement from Heart of the City, who owns the statue, said it was costing too much to maintain the weary Santa and it was time to retire him. "We know Santa is well-loved by many Aucklanders," said Viv Beck, CEO of Heart of the City. "But sadly, for a combination of reasons it is time to retire this model." "We love Santa too so it wasn’t an easy decision. However this is not the end of Christmas in the city centre. "We’re already underway in thinking about how Christmas could be celebrated here in the future, and in the new year we will involve the city centre community in exploring what Christmas 2020 and beyond could look like."
Santa will go up for the final time on November 10 and will be taken down on January 10. "We want to provide Aucklanders with the opportunity to say goodbye to Santa. Christmas is a time for joy and celebration and we’re sure many of us have fond memories of him," Beck said. Memories and photos can be uploaded to heartofthecity.co.nz, emailed to farewellsanta@hotcity.co.nz or shared on Instagram and Facebook using #FarewellSanta. They'll then be published to a dedicated page on heartofthecity.co.nz/farewellsanta.
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More messages from your neighbours
1 day ago

Poll: Should employees be able to work from home?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

At the post-Cabinet press conference, the National Party asserted they want public sector staff to return to the office. This has opened a conversation about other sectors in New Zealand who have adopted working from home (WFH).

Where possible, do you think employees should be able to work from home? Vote below and share your thoughts in the comments.

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Should employees be able to work from home?
  • 70.4% Yes
    70.4% Complete
  • 26.4% No
    26.4% Complete
  • 3.2% Other - I'll share below
    3.2% Complete
1225 votes
6 days ago

This one was sent in by your fellow neighbour, can you figure it out?

Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

What is first white then red and the plumper it gets the more the old lady likes it?

Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.

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Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

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R
21 hours ago

can someone please help me decide

Roderick from Kelston

I saw this and was wondering what the thinking behind BK was for doing this. Can some please help me decide which one to choose.
1) BK
2) Uber