4-story-tall Santa is turning heads in NY neighborhood

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (PIX11) -- The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade's balloon inflation may be a tourist attraction in Manhattan, but in one Long Island community, the parade balloons are getting a run for their money in a big way.

In this neighborhood of two-story, single-family homes, Santa Claus stands tall — twice as tall as the homes around him. 

The 42-foot-tall Santa inflatable stands on the lawn between the homes of Christina Stergiopoulos and Jackie Proscia on Florgate Road in Farmingdale. The two best friends' husbands, who are also close, decided earlier in the fall that they wanted to give the four-story-tall Santa balloon as a gift to the community. Now, it towers over their homes and is visible more than one-third of a mile away. 

Neither husband wanted to comment, but their wives told PIX11 News that they couldn't stop talking about it and their husbands' idea coming to life.  

"Everybody thought he was crazy," Stergiopolous said about her husband. "He has great ideas. This one was a little crazy, I will say, but I love him for that."

Proscia said that her family and the Stergiopolouses, who share a front lawn, are known in the neighborhood for putting up elaborate Halloween displays, as well as notable Christmas ones. 

This year, she said, the massive Santa of Florgate Road was above and beyond. Proscia called it a gift. 

"We put everything together to make the neighborhood happy," she said.