This was more than just window dressing.
A bunch of young Ridgites got to cut class on Oct. 26 when they helped decorate the windows of local businesses as part of the 65th-annual Fall Art Window Painting Contest. The event, sponsored by the Bay Ridge Community Council, is always hotly anticipated among the nabe’s students, according to one teacher.
“It’s a great experience for the kids, to get out there and feel like they’re part of the community,” said Eve King, who has brought ten students from her fifth-grade class at PS 185 to paint local windows for the past nine years. “It’s good for the kids, and it’s good for the community.”
This year, King brought her students to paint the windows of Empire Bank and Jabour Realty, both near the corner of Third Avenue and 87th Street, where they added images of fall scenes — including foliage, goblins, and haunted houses — to the glass.
Students from Visitation Academy also participated in the festivities, which are always highlight for the kids, according to one parent who volunteered at the event.
“It was wonderful, they really look forward to this every year,” said Sonia Abi-Habib, whose fifth-grade daughter Jenna painted windows at Tuscany Grill and the Kettle Black, which are next door to each other on Third Avenue between 86th and 87th streets.
The owner of Tuscany Grill said that the tykes’ artwork only lasted three days on his windows because of the rain that came on Sunday, but that participating in the annual event is worth the kids’ excitement regardless.
“It’s nice to have the kids in the community come by,” said Joseph DeCrescenzo.
