Friday, December 24, 2021

Another holiday visit with Frankie Christmas

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

We last checked in with the undisputed king of East Village Christmas, Frank “Frankie Christmas” Bianco, at this time last year

This year Bianco, a Brooklyn native who has lived here since 1980, welcomed us back to his winter wonderland apartment on Avenue D with an update on the lighting schedule...   
“This year, I shattered my previous record and was able to put up a total of 11,875 lights, about 1,500 more than last year. To finish by Dec. 1, I usually start decorating as soon as the Labor Day weekend finishes. For the last couple of months, it took me about 200 hours to complete each room in my apartment. I usually spend an hour or two each night of the week decorating and get the bulk of it done on the weekends, where I may spend up to eight hours decorating.”
What else is new?

“It’s a tradition to get at least a half dozen Christmas tattoos every year since moving down to the LES. I have 11 new snowflake tattoos and the Grinch’s hand holding an ornament. Similar to my Christmas tattoos, I always make sure to add a few new decorations to my apartment as well. I purchased a Christmas Tree from Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, the largest Christmas store in the world located in Frankenmuth, Mich., and my favorite new addition, a Swarovski 2021 snowflake ornament.” 
...and now take a tour...

 

What can we look forward to next year? 

“In 2022, I’m somehow putting up more lights than I did this year! It’ll be tough, but I’m confident I’ll be able to [string more than] 12,000 lights. I’ll also be returning to Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland to find new additions to my collection, and most important spread the Christmas Spirit!”

Read our Q&A with Frankie from last year at this link

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very cool - what a great place to hang during the season! Thanks

Frank Bianco said...

It was a pleasure seeing you again, Stacie! Thanks for the article and great conversation, love the photos and video. πŸŽ…πŸ»❄️❤️

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas πŸŽ„πŸŽΆπŸŽ‰πŸŽ„

Anonymous said...

Wow! That is amazing and beautiful! Talk about being in the spirit of the season!

Thank you for sharing this with us; I feel more upbeat just looking at those photos!

Anonymous said...

This is insane...in the best way possible! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

Truly inspirational

Anonymous said...

Brilliant, Frankie! What a fantastic job! I can imagine you doing this as a Christmas set decorator in films....

anonymous said...

Outstanding!!πŸŽ„πŸŽπŸŽ…πŸΌ Merry Christmas Frankie!!