Glendale Santa spreads Christmas cheer from behind the wheel of his ‘66 Comet

Glendale resident Mike Bilski drives his 1966 Mercury Comet convertible through local neighborhoods dressed as Santa Claus while playing Christmas carols. Photo courtesy of Bilski

By David Brand

Instead of eight reindeer, this Santa’s sleigh is powered by an eight-cylinder engine.

Glendale resident Mike Bilski, a diesel mechanic for the Department of Sanitation, has spent much of the past month spreading holiday cheer from behind the wheel of his 1966 Mercury Comet convertible. 

It’s the seventh year in a row that Bilski, 55, has donned the red costume, decked out his classic ride with Christmas decorations and cruised through Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth and Middle Village. His pandemic drives, complete with Christmas carols, have been especially important to the families he encounters, he said.

“This year, people are so excited, a lot more than the previous years,” Bilski said. “Children need interaction and they’re home, so to see this little bit of joy is a big thing.”

Facebook reflects the joyous response. Posts about Bilski’s Christmas rides have received hundreds of likes and comments on one Ridgewood community page. Bilski said that shows in real life, too.

“Kids are crying, they’re happy. Parents are yelling at me over the music, ‘Thank you, Santa!,’” he said.

The rides are an extra special tradition for Bilski, who has lost two son in tragic deaths.  

“I lost two of my children,” he said. “So I feel happy inside when I’m creating happiness and making a memory for a child.”

His wife Sandy sometimes rides in the passenger seat dressed as Ms. Claus, and their daughter plans to visit this weekend. She’ll be the backseat elf, Bilski said.

Bilski is a member of the East Coast Car Association, a nonprofit group that raises money for St. Mary’s Children’s Hospital during charity rides and special community events. He also helps organize the annual Queens Veterans Parade. 

The leisure time Christmas drives are another extension of Bilski’s public service. He is a member of the New York State Guard and he spent the spring deployed in Staten Island during the Guard’s COVID mission. He took people’s temperatures and asked about their potential exposure to the virus. 

He said friends and neighbors ask why he spends his free time behind the wheel of the caroling Comet if he’s not getting paid. 

It’s the good deeds that drive him, he tells them.

“I get paid in the end,” Bilski said. “That’s how I look at it.”