{"id":57744,"date":"2025-12-01T22:21:33","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T22:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/57744\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T22:21:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T22:21:33","slug":"park-slope-rings-in-holiday-season-with-16th-annual-tree-lighting-on-small-business-saturday-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/57744\/","title":{"rendered":"Park Slope rings in holiday season with 16th annual tree lighting on Small Business Saturday \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"NY:\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The holiday spruce was illuminated during the Park Slope Fifth Avenue BID\u2019s 16th annual tree-lighting ceremony on Nov. 29, marking the start of the neighborhood\u2019s festive season.<\/p>\n

Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Coinciding with Small Business Saturday, the Park Slope Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District (Park Slope 5th Ave BID) and local residents rang in \u201cthe most wonderful time of the year\u201d with the 16th annual tree-lighting ceremony Nov. 29 at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Fourth Street, outside Washington Park\u2019s J.J. Byrne Playground.<\/p>\n

The free, family-friendly festivities on the pedestrian-friendly Fourth Street Plaza featured soapy magic tricks by Bubble Dad Chris Catanese, face painting, music by Victor V. Gurbo and Mark Caserto, an arts and crafts table, and warm chocolate provided by Chela Mexican Restaurant.<\/p>\n

The highlight of the holiday event was, of course, Santa Claus \u2014 the most important person of the season. He and his elves trekked from the North Pole to Park Slope, posing for photos and leading the countdown to illuminate the holiday spruce.<\/p>\n

\"\"Santa Claus took time out of his busy schedule to pose for photos with Park Slope families. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann \"\"Families enjoyed Bubble Dad Chris Catanese\u2019s soapy magic tricks. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Before flipping the switch to illuminate the evergreen, Santa issued a playful warning for those who hadn\u2019t been on their best behavior: they had 20 days to repent if they expected gifts under the tree.<\/p>\n

Park Slope residents Hope Hou and Serko Artinian attended the event for the first time and appreciated its community feel.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this neighborhood is really one of the best we\u2019ve ever experienced in New York City,\u201d Hou told Brooklyn Paper. \u201cEvents like this make the neighborhood community really special. It brings everyone together. Usually, you wouldn\u2019t really have a chance to interact with other community members.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love the neighborhood, we love the people,\u201d Artinian added. \u201cWe love the sense of community. We love the events that actually help preserve and respect the space.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Lisa Hilliard from Collierville, Tennessee, was visiting family over Thanksgiving and enjoyed the celebration.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI love all the families that I see here, and it\u2019s just amazing to see the children enjoying Christmas,\u201d Hilliard said.\n<\/p>\n

Her son-in-law, Jacob Doan, who moved to the neighborhood six months ago, noted the event\u2019s impact on community connection.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a big city like New York, having things like [the tree lighting] makes the neighborhood feel like a really true community,\u201d Doan said.\n<\/p>\n

\"\"One of the festivities included face painting. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann \"\"Park Slopers rang in the holiday season with the 16th annual holiday tree lighting. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Joanna Tallantire, executive director of the Park Slope 5th Ave BID, told Brooklyn Paper that the tree lighting coincided with Small Business Saturday to encourage Brooklynites to shop local.\n<\/p>\n

Park Slope\u2019s Fifth Avenue \u2014 dubbed New York City\u2019s \u201ccoolest\u201d street<\/a> by Time Out in 2024 \u2014 is home to 520 small businesses. Tallantire noted that the holiday season accounts for about 25% of merchants\u2019 annual sales, though tariffs imposed during the Trump administration have posed challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tough year with the tariffs, and it\u2019s been a slow beginning, so just keep going back into the shops. They\u2019re getting more and more gifts ready for you, and they\u2019re packed with stuff and inventory,\u201d she said. \u201cSupport small, local shops, and have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark Caserta, vice president of Small Business Support at the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, said the tariffs continue to affect the local economy.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe economy is a little slow right now, and there\u2019s definitely an effect on tariffs. When we talk to businesses, they\u2019re finding prices are higher than ever for them,\u201d Caserta told Brooklyn Paper. \u201cSmall Business Saturday is merely a reminder of how important it is to support small businesses, and this year, more than ever, it\u2019s really needed because of the struggles with tariffs, with ICE, and increased costs. Mom-and-pop businesses and immigrant-owned businesses really need your support.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon and Joanna Tallantire highlighted the importance of Small Business Saturday. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon, whose district includes Park Slope, attended the ceremony and emphasized the importance of supporting local businesses. The lawmaker wished everyone \u201cpeace, love, and joy for the holidays.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you get to know your neighbors, you get to know your local businesses, they get to know you, our communities are happier, they\u2019re safer, and our merchants do better,\u201d Simon said. \u201cWe don\u2019t really need to spend all of our money in big corporate entities like Amazon and others, because we have everything we need right here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The holiday spruce was illuminated during the Park Slope Fifth Avenue BID\u2019s 16th annual tree-lighting ceremony on Nov.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[31250,98,4223,100,99,31251,19097,1030,31252,31253,9,24,370,63,31254,31255,31256,28170,14951,20055],"class_list":["post-57744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-assembly-member-jo-anne-simon","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-chamber-of-commerce","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-christmas-season","tag-christmas-tree-lighting","tag-holiday-season","tag-joanna-tallantire","tag-mark-caserta","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc","tag-park-slope-fifth-avenue-business-improvement-districrt","tag-park-slope-tree-lighting","tag-saint-nick","tag-santa-claus","tag-small-business-saturday","tag-tree-lighting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}