An army of skeletons reaches out to you from the second-floor balcony, above a sea of small monsters rising up from the lawn below. A witch’s flying school is just down the road from a vampire’s blood bank. And thousands of lights of all colors and sizes shine bright in the night.
This is just a small part of the scene at “Brooklyn’s Home for the Holidays” this October. Brooklyn’s Home for the Holidays is a private home, located at 1102 East 72nd Street, that sets up huge decoration displays for every holiday, complete with lights and music.
Austin Ferrazzano is the mastermind behind the displays. The 22-year-old decorator lives in the home with his family and creates the displays as a hobby when he’s not working.
“I know at the end of the day, even while I’m setting it up, I get so much support – people are looking forward to it,” Ferrazzano said in an interview. “The continuous support from the people in the neighborhood just makes it so much more worth it to me, to see everyone happy and appreciative of what I can do for the community and bring everyone together.”
And make people happy, he does. Residents regularly come out to see his displays, often as families. Ferrazzano even creates scavenger hunts for visiting kids to find hidden decorations.
“It’s really great,” Andrea, a community member who came with her children, said. “They’re having fun doing the scavenger hunt.”
This year, the Halloween display has several new additions, including an expanded Frankenstein’s laboratory and a giant animated zombie.
“Any little details that can complement the theme or the display really adds to it,” Ferrazzano said.
The Halloween display will be up from October 1st until Halloween and will be lit every night from about 7 p.m. until 10:30 p.m., barring rain. Ferrazzano’s next display will be Thanksgiving, which should be up around the first week of November.
