It’s holiday inflation everyone can get behind.
A pair of Long Island homeowners are going big for Christmas — installing a 42-foot inflatable Santa Claus that’s attracted hundreds of onlookers.
Farmingdale dance studio owner Jacklyn Proscia, 35, said the idea came after her neighbor to the right, nurse Christina Stergiopoulos, 36, said she wanted to “make Christmas great again.”
“My husband said it to me first; we’ve got to make Christmas great again,” said Stergiopoulos, a supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, adding she’s noted a decline in holiday cheer in their neighborhood over the last few years, including in how homes are decorated.
Stergiopoulos’ husband, George, found the towering 135-pound Kris Kringle online at a sketchy website for $3,000. And next-door neighbor Proscia — who said she was in it for the holiday cheer, not politics — happily agreed to display it on their shared front lawn and contribute to the cost.
“We’re always on board with these crazy fun ideas,” Proscia, who does a joint Halloween display with the Stergiopoulos family, told The Post on Monday.
When their husbands first took the massive Saint Nick out of his box, he appeared as a gigantic, colorful pancake flat on the grass.
Upright, the oversized decoration — with a huge, green toy sack — is bigger than both of their homes. It only takes about 10 to 15 minutes for it to reach full size, but it needs continuous air to stay inflated.
“When we put it up on the front lawn, it definitely looked larger than life,” Proscia told The Post. “In the back of my mind, 42-feet didn’t look like this in my brain.”
The families appear to have succeeded in boosting holiday cheer across Nassau County since putting up the larger-than-life Father Christmas last Monday, with visitors dropping by for a look as late as 10 p.m., they said.
The two husbands even set up a series of lights so that the holly jolly man would be more visible after sundown, which turned into peak viewing hours.
“It’s hundreds [coming by], especially at night,” their neighbor across the street, Douglas McGowan, 55, told The Post. “It’s actually very nice. It’s all families coming with their little kids to take pictures.”
On Monday morning, cars, a UPS truck and a mail van slowly coasted by to have a better look.
“We love Santa,” one passenger rolled down their window and told the homeowners. “It’s such a happy thing.”
McGowan, who has lived in his house for 26 years, added that he and his family can sleep in heavenly peace despite “one or two traffic jams” on the quiet block.
To ensure the giant Santa doesn’t bob and weave dangerously in the wind, the neighbors use 24 lawn spikes and cords to tether it to the lawn.
“It was a little scary when we first put it up,” Proscia said, noting the balloon had to be inflated fully before being tethered down like a blimp.
Proscia and Stergiopoulos initially had buyer’s remorse — and even considered shelving the decoration on the first day.
But their deliberations were quickly interrupted by a viral video of the mega-Santa falling on its side, which was posted on the Instagram page Long Island Wiseguys.
“So then we had no choice,” Proscia said of keeping the balloon up. “That was the end of it.”
As a courtesy to neighbors, Santa’s owners are looking into making set visiting hours and have an Instagram page for updates. Stergiopoulos is investigating ways to work with a charity for the holiday season, too.
Motivated by last month’s election results, Stergiopoulos, who also proudly displays a Trump flag, wants to use Santa as a way of ushering in a new wave of cheer and optimism.
“Just driving around, you can see more people are getting into the spirit,” noted the mom of three.
“This [Christmas season], a lot of people are going big. People are happier. I noticed a big difference in the past few weeks,” she added.
Stergiopoulos noted she’s trying to distract herself from December’s upcoming electricity bill — but said she’s just as excited to give her kids a specular display, as the rest of the neighborhood.
Stergiopoulos also scoffed at interior design experts declaring “minimalist” decorating is the hit theme for Christmas 2024.
“Not at all,” she said. “Go big or go home. That’s it.”