JINGLE CELLS
Merry jail display in Bronx precinct
A Bronx precinct boss turned the drab old pens in his station house into the borough’s answer to the Saks Fifth Avenue windows — using lights, tinsel, elves and other decor to spread holiday cheer.
“The whole purpose is to bring the community to our house,” the commanding officer, Deputy Inspector Ernest Morales III, told The Post.
“Instead of ‘Miracle on 34th Street,’ this is our Miracle at the 42nd Precinct.”
The displays are inside jail cells, but you don’t have to be on the NYPD’s naughty list to check them out — cops will soon open the festive exhibit to the public.
It’s a first for the Melrose station house, which has previously reimagined itself as a Halloween haunted house. The 14 cells haven’t held prisoners since the 1990s, and the units’ transformation from dingy closets to delightful dioramas is remarkable.
Wrapping paper covers the steel bars and graffiti-scarred walls, while Christmas lights, garlands and stuffed-toy elves lend an air of whimsy to the once-dour dungeon.
One room is tricked out to look like Santa’s office, with a naughty-and-nice list, ersatz fireplace, cup of cocoa and a name plate reading, “Mr. Claus.”
Another is an homage to Hanukkah, while a third is dedicated to the Grinch — who is apparently cooling his heels on Grand Theft Holiday charges.
Other cells are decorated after Disney’s “Frozen,” the borough’s elevated subways and a Nativity scene.
Morales was inspired by the holiday windows he saw along Fifth Avenue as a kid.
“I remember growing up and going to see these displays and loving them,” he said. “It left an indelible impression on me, so that years later — when I’m able to — I brought it here to the 42nd Precinct.”
Officer Erica Bukowiecki, who got fellow cops and community members to “adopt” and decorate the cells in their off time over the last eight weeks, said of her boss, “He wanted to bring Macy’s to The Bronx.” The precinct kicked in $3,000.
Cops will give afternoon tours Dec. 17–22, when Santa will stop by to hand out gifts to kids under 12, Morales said.
The command’s inmates are housed in another area, so they won’t get to share in the festivities — and visitors won’t have to walk by them to get to catch a glimpse of the converted cells.