Santa Claus is out of a job this year. Paul Chernosky, who has been the Rockefeller Center Skating Santa for the last 15 years, was fired this holiday season without reason.
"I was always told in the past that as long as I wanted the job I had it," Chernosky told The Guardian, "I felt very appreciated and praised for my work, and then all of a sudden: boom. The rug was just pulled out from under my feet."
Chernosky has donned a Santa outfit while skating in the rink below the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree every year since 1998, The Guardian reported. Chernosky, who is a former skating teacher, got the job through a client.
Being Santa was an invaluable source of joy for him and the people who came to see him.
"Children have had their photos taken with me every year," Chernosky wrote in an online petition to get his job back. "People ask for me by name; not any old Skating Santa will do! Some people, I've kept in touch with and have become friends with."
Chernosky was told he would be able to return to the rink this year. But less than two weeks before the skating season began he was told that was not going to happen. His elves were also told they would not be returning, The Guardian reports.
Though Chernosky was given no reason, in his online petition he mentions that Rockefeller Center went under new management at the end of the last holiday season.
"After several discussions about his quality of service as one of our Skating Santas the decision was made to go with another vendor," Tanja Yokum for Patina Restaurant Group, which organizes Rockefeller Center's holiday attractions, said in a statement according to the New York Post.
Over 750 people have signed Chernosky's petition so far, The Guardian reported.
"Without this job, there will be a void in my life," Chernosky wrote, "It's not just a job, It's an honor."
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