Take that, political correctness.
An intentionally provocative painting adorning the window of a Russian restaurant in East Williamsburg takes aim at the generic phrase "Happy Holidays" by depicting Santa Claus wielding a Christmas tree fending off an orthodox Rabbi with a flame-shooting menorah.
Vitaly Sherman, 44, who opened the restaurant Masha & the Bear with his wife at 771 Grand St. just shy of a year ago, said he wanted the painting to show that no matter what religion you are, you should be able to wish your friends a Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas or whatever it is that you celebrate.
"Political correctness scares me. It reminds me of the Soviet Union," said Sherman. "Enough political correctness, it's the holiday season, enjoy it how you like it."
He admitted that he designed it "maybe just a little bit to rub the neighborhood the wrong way."
Besides the two dueling characters the painting reads "Merry Hanukah, Happy Christmas and a Russian New Year."
Sherman, who is Jewish, and his wife, who is from a Christian-Russian background, often crack religious jokes around the family that might offend more sensitive ears, he said.
The painting went up a few days before a Dec. 12 window decorating competition hosted by the Grand Street Business Improvement District. Most shops participating had groups of local high schoolers make their window displays but Sherman and a few other shop owners chose to design their own.
"We thought it was very funny," said Artinah Haven, the director of the BID. "Vitaly has a very good sense of humor."
While it was aimed to poke fun at political correctness, it wasn't meant as a reference to the relationship between Christians and Jews in Williamsburg, Sherman said.
"It has nothing to do with the issues of the neighborhood," he said.
When Mirna Prieto, 42, and her co-workers at Brooklyn Standard, a coffee shop across the street, saw the finished painting, they all huddled around window, gazing across the street, she said.
"That one's gonna win [the mural competition]," she said, though ultimately Kingdom Toys down the block won the $500 prize. "It was wonderful."
David Marrero, 47, a manager at the Up 2 Par clothing store down the street, said that he, too, got a kick out of the painting, and thought it had to do with people getting drunk during the holidays and fighting over stupid things.
"These days you gotta take things as jokes instead of being serious," he said.
