Decking the Halls: Penn-Wortman Resident’s Famous Decorations

For 41 years, Elizabeth Figueroa has been decorating the seventh-floor hallway of her Penn-Wortman Houses building in festive fashion to commemorate Christmas. She also updates her hallway décor for Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Halloween. 

Ms. Figueroa, a former teacher, decorates to bring joy to the children and families of her community: “I do this for the kids. They come back every year, and now some of them are coming back with their kids and grandkids.” 

Ms. Figueroa said her designs have become more elaborate over the years, taking more time to put up. She’s now hanging up her Christmas decorations the day after Halloween. Her Halloween display, which generally receives the most attention, involves so many pieces that she starts decorating in August. Her displays are often accompanied by community events, such as trick-or-treating for Halloween and pop-up toy giveaways for the children of the development for Christmas.

She and her family also dress up in relevant holiday characters – for Christmas, her mate Willie Echevarria is Santa; she is Mary; her granddaughter Micaly Andino, 12, will be an angel; and her grandson Easton Andino, 7, is going to be a star. Ms. Figueroa has so many decorations that she has to store them in two storage spaces when they’re not in use. She pays for the displays herself; any donations she receives from the community she passes along to a good cause – this year she will donate to refugee children from South America and Ukraine. For the last seven years, Ms. Figueroa has also run a community garden at the development that provides fresh produce and programming for children. 

She has no plans of stopping her holiday displays, which are a community hit: “It’s a wonderful life. I’ve got something for everyone to enjoy.” 

Check out media coverage of Ms. Figueroa’s hallway designs on News12, PIX 11, the Canarsie Courier, the New York Daily News, and more.