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Read the press release here.

'World's Largest Dildo Battle' Canceled By Parks Department

By Emilie Ruscoe | July 31, 2015 6:24pm
 Union Square during a regularly scheduled summer event.
Union Square during a regularly scheduled summer event.
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Photo Courtesy of Summer in the Square.

UNION SQUARE—Thousands of New Yorkers eager to whack each other with dildos will have to make other plans for Saturday afternoon: an unpermitted event entited "Dildo Wars" has been forcibly canceled by the Parks Department's Office of Special Events and Permits.

The event was the brainchild of Brooklyn entrepreneur Alex "Xander" "Vante" Shlaferman, who stated on a website and on social media pages that the event came to be as part of a show he's filming called "Xander World," "a show where I do everything I've always wanted to do. Well, I've always wanted to have an epic dildo battle in Union Square."

On the Facebook page for the event, described as "the World's Largest Dildo Battle," all RSVP'ed attendees were promised a free 14-inch dildo with which to do battle. The event was billed as a project to raise STD awareness, though there did not appear to be any partnering educational initiatives listed on promotional materials.

Posted rules for the event included "No face shots or below the belts!" and "Exterior use only!

Schlaferman, who is the 21-year-old founder of a toy company with its own Chinese manufacturing plant called Vante Toys, was the architect of an unpermitted party that took place on the Manhattan Bridge in August 2013.

A letter from the office of Special Events and Permits' Alexandra Pepe to the event organizers published on the event's Facebook page states that "No one is permitted to hold any special event [in NYC parks] without a permit. Please be advised, therefore, that this event is in violation of Parks Rules."

The letter also indicates an event with hundreds of attendees scheduled for Union Square during the Saturday greenmarket would be "potentially dangerous."

Organizers and Parks Department officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.