Mayor Rob Ford may create a new event to replace the Mayor’s New Year’s Levee, a meet-and-greet tradition that in Toronto dates back to 1968.

Ford’s chief of staff, Mark Towhey, said Ford prefers an event more “family-friendly” than the traditional City Hall levee, for which residents stand in line for an hour or more for a handshake and a few seconds of small talk with the mayor and councillors.

One possibility, Towhey said Wednesday, is a family skating party in Nathan Phillips Square.

“A traditional indoor receiving line could still be done Jan. 1. But we’re looking for a new, more family-friendly format,” Towhey said.

Ford’s predecessor, David Miller, also broke with tradition. Miller held “levee-style” events across the city in January 2010 rather than the usual New Year’s Day event at City Hall.

Towhey told the Toronto Sun on Tuesday that the levee had been cancelled. Ford’s press secretary, George Christopoulos, said the same to the Star on Wednesday before Towhey made his own comments.

Towhey was quoted in the Sun’s story as saying, “I think it was due to a scheduling issue . . . also cost.”

A city spokesperson said Ford’s 2011 levee cost $4,500, his 2012 levee $3,400. Ford, known for his enthusiasm for retail politics, appeared to enjoy both events.

Councillor Mike Layton, a Ford opponent, wrote on Twitter that Towhey had offered a “lame excuse” on Tuesday. “Scheduling? Levee is same time every year. Cost? We stand in line for three hours,” Layton wrote.

Councillor Michael Thompson, a Ford ally, called the event “a great way to meet the public” and “money well spent.”

“How do you make it any more family-friendly? You’re able to bring your family. We have juice, water. People are able to bring their children and take a photo with the mayor and councillors. I see a lot of people bring their kids,” Thompson told reporters Wednesday.

In 2012, more than 300 residents lined up in the City Hall rotunda for between one and four hours to shake hands with Ford and the councillors who stood beside him. Most of the attendees were staunch supporters, but he bantered cheerfully and posed for photos even with the people who told him they didn’t like him.

The levee landed him in a brief and odd bit of trouble seven months later, when Liberal strategist and pundit Warren Kinsella posted a photo Ford had taken with Jon Latvis, a former member of a prominent neo-Nazi band.

Ford moved last year’s levee to Jan. 2, a Monday, rather than the traditional Jan. 1, a Sunday, without explanation.

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The city’s website says Canada’s first levee was hosted by the governor of New France in 1646.

With files from Paul Moloney