Man dedicates months to creating dazzling holiday displays
By Hannah Kliger
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NEW YORK (WCBS/WLNY) — The Dyker Heights Christmas lights are a holiday staple, but that’s not the only place in Brooklyn you can find dazzling displays.
One man in Bergen Beach thrills thousands by bringing the North Pole to his front lawn.
“Each year gets more extravagant”
On a frigid evening after sunset, 23-year-old Austin Ferrazzano plugs in the holiday lights and suddenly, his whole street becomes a dazzling display of holiday cheer.
“I do it for almost every holiday,” he said, smiling at a passerby who exclaimed “so beautiful” at his front lawn.
But there are weeks of work and months of planning before Ferrazzano sees the fruits of his labor.
“This is my 10th year doing it. Each year gets more extravagant,” he said, explaining that his goal is to make his show better and brighter, year after year.
For four months out of the year, decorating his own home is this full-time job. Three years ago, he realized his biggest source of inspiration was just a 20-minute walk away, so he called up one of the most revered mechanical display-makers in the world. That call changed his hobby into a professional dream.
Revered mechanical display-maker shares his expertise
“This man has been business for close to 60 years, building animated holiday displays. And I am lucky enough to be learning under him as an apprentice,” he said.
With their heads put together, Austin has a living encyclopedia of experience in Lou Nasti.
Everything in Lou’s Avenue N workshop takes on a life of its own.
“It’s always a lot of fun working on these things. You start with nothing and you see things come to life,” Nasti, owner of Mechanical Displays Inc., said.
His mechanical creations have danced and enthralled visitors at department store displays for decades.
“When I started this company, I had no education. I’m a high school graduate… I can animate anything,” he said.
Nasti explains that he sees himself in Austin. Years from now, when Lou plans to retire, the reins of his cheerful reindeer will hopefully go to the younger generation.
“You just see the reactions from people”
Back at home, Austin gets to work, because he explains that for him, it’s not a labor of love, it’s a community investment.
When asked why he puts so much work into these displays, especially given how much money and time it takes, he replies with a small smile.
“You don’t have to know why. You just see the reactions from people and how happy it makes them,” he said.
Friday night, the community held a celebration marking a decade of this tradition at Austin’s holiday home.
As night falls, the North Pole comes alive in this little corner of Brooklyn.
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