In a Farmingdale neighborhood typically dotted with the standard holiday flair, a mammoth 42-foot inflatable Santa Claus has catapulted the festive spirits to new heights, dwarfing the local two-story homes and even giving the iconic Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons a run for their money. The gargantuan St. Nick, residing between the homes of Christina Stergiopoulos and Jackie Proscia on Florgate Road, is visible from over a third of a mile away, according to PIX11 News.
Displayed only for a few hours each day when the weather permits, the inflatable Santa, which has turned into a local spectacle, was anchored to the ground with eight cables and stakes digging 16 inches into the soil. This holiday behemoth was the brainchild of the two homeowners' husbands, who wished to lavish the community with something unforgettable. Giving a statement to ABC7NY, Stergiopoulos playfully pinned the grand idea on her husband: "Just blame the husband. He's crazy."
The Stergiopoulos family, alongside their next door neighbors, the Proscias, are famous in their block for putting up remarkable decorations during the Halloween and Christmas seasons, but this year, the scale they've achieved with their inflatable Santa has, simply put, blown up. Speaking to neighbors, the levity was clear, with one joking that "as long as no kids are attached to it," as detailed by ABC7NY. The towering Santa causing any windborne havoc was no cause for concern.
As people usually head to Manhattan's Macy's parade for such colossal balloon sightings, Jonathan Proscia told ABC7NY that the Farmingdale Santa turns that tradition on its head: "There's no reason to go there now, right? We're just gonna look up on our lawn and there it is! Ha! Ha!" Proscia also shared with PIX11 News the sense of community spirit the giant balloon has fostered, uniting the neighborhood in a shared sense of joy and surprise. "Everybody thought he was crazy," she said of her husband's ambitious idea, "but I love him for that." Clearly, this Santa has stuffed more than stockings this year, it’s filled a whole community with a grand dose of cheer.
