PARK SLOPE — Park Slope ushered in the holiday season with its 15th annual tree-lighting ceremony on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Fourth Street outside Washington Park’s J.J. Byrne Playground on Nov. 30. 

The festivities, hosted by the Park Slope Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District (BID), kicked off at 4:30 p.m. with free, family-friendly events on the pedestrian-friendly Fourth Street Plaza. 

Private Picassos helped kids write postcards to Santa, which they deposited in the large, red mailbox, and Park Slope Parents hosted an arts and crafts table. Chela Mexican Restaurant handed out warm chocolate, keeping frolickers warm and cozy on a brisk winter evening, while Bubble Dad Chris Catanese delighted the crowd with soapy magic tricks and musician Mr. Patrick entertained with classic holiday songs. 

The highlight of the holiday spectacular was Santa Claus, who took time out of his busy schedule and made the trek from the North Pole to pose for photos with the kids. Santa also led the countdown to the lighting of the 30-foot-tall spruce. 

Saint Nick reminded the kids — and adults — there were only 25 days left before he returned.

“So you have 25 days to make sure you’re on that nice list. If you’re not on that nice list yet, you better repent and get on it,” Father Christmas told the crowd. 

The Kim family stood in line waiting for a photo op with Santa Claus. The long-time Park Slopers attend the event almost every year. 

“It’s a nice sense of community,” Ed Kim said of the event. “It’s really good to have this because, you know, especially in recent years, it’s been a little bit rough for the neighborhood — for the whole city — but this is nice.”

His wife, Claire, added, “Everything is so wonderful. I really appreciate that they are giving us the opportunity to come out here as a community.”

Their son, 12-year-old Teddy, was excited for his sister, six-year-old Libby, to meet Santa Claus. Libby, who loved the sparkling tree, told Brooklyn Eagle that her answer to Santa Claus’ question whether she’d been naughty or nice was a “maybe.” 

Park Sloper Marina Stasenko attended the event with her kids and family members, who moved to the United States from Ukraine a couple of years ago because of Russia’s war on their home country. The mom of two told Brooklyn Eagle her wish for the holiday season was “Peace [and] quiet. Mostly peace; we just need peace in this world.”

Local politicians, Assemblymembers Jo Anne Simon and Robert Carroll, were among the merrymakers, celebrating the beginning of the holiday season. 

Carroll attended the event with his wife and two kids and said the event was a “fun way to kick off the holiday season.”  

“Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or just trying to get into the spirit, I think the wonderful thing about New York during this season is there are so many wonderful events and decorations and people coming together and making it a fun time of year,” Carroll said.

The cherished holiday tradition coincided with Small Business Saturday, encouraging holiday shoppers to buy locally. Park Slope’s Fifth Avenue, dubbed the “coolest street” in New York City and “13th Coolest Street in the World” by Time Out, is home to 520 businesses and Joanna Tallantire, executive director of the BID, told Brooklyn Eagle, that Fifth Avenue businesses had a lot to offer. 

“[The tree lighting] is a great way to kick off the holiday season, but reminds people that our small shops and our local restaurants are unique,” Tallantire said. “They have great service, they have great products, but also, when you shop locally, you support your whole community.”

Mark Caserta, vice president of Small Business Support of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, explained that Brooklyn had around 63,000 small businesses and encouraged holiday shoppers to visit stores in different neighborhoods.

“Even if people don’t shop on this day, this is sort of the kickoff. It’s a reminder [that] it’s now time to go and visit your local shops and look and see the wonderful things that they have,” Caserta said. 

Kim Maier, executive director of the Old Stone House, one of the event’s sponsors, told Brooklyn Eagle that working with the Fifth Avenue BID on a family event filled with holiday joy was a “great pleasure.” 

“[The community] just loves being able to come together and gather around something that makes everybody feel good,” said Maier, whose holiday message to all was, “Be of goodwill to each other.”