By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
INWOOD — Despite the failure of a local nonprofit to raise funds for holiday lights in Inwood, community residents and businesses decked the halls, fire escapes and windows in the neighborhood through a neighborhood effort called Inwood Shines Bright.
First started by Inwood resident and blogger Zaida Grunes last year, the grassroots effort attempted to decorate Inwood from Dyckman Street to 218th Street with blinking lights, jolly Santas, reindeer and snowmen.
“My eldest son’s Grandmother told me a story about when she was growing up in Washington Heights and Inwood,” Grunes wrote on her neighborhood blog Manhattan’s Peak in November. “She said every window and fire escape would be decorated starting right after Thanksgiving, and that she was so sad to see that our neighborhood doesn’t celebrate the Holidays the way we used to. So, Inwood, let’s do it again.”
The effort was boosted by Inwood residents who volunteered to put up posters designed by Inwood resident Jason Juniewicz in building lobbies, lampposts and storefront windows.
DNAinfo helped sponsor the printing costs involved in spreading the word along with neighborhood blog Uptown Collective; the parenting blog YoungUrbanMoms.com; and local Inwood gym Inwood Boxing Academy.
Inwood residents planned to make a final push to urge people to get in the holiday spirit and decorate their homes.
Residents can share their favorite Inwood holiday decorations by emailing inwoodshinesbright@gmail.com, which will then be featured on the Inwood Shines Bright site.
