Holiday mystery: Letters to Santa arrive at New York City apartment every year
CHELSEA, Manhattan -- It's an annual holiday mystery: for some reason hundreds of letters addressed to Santa arrive to a specific apartment in Midtown every year. The owner doesn't know why, but that didn't stop him from stepping into Kris Kringle's shoes.
Jim Glaub moved into a building on West 22nd Street about 10 years ago and the previous tenant gave him a heads up.
"Oh yeah, don't worry about it, but you're going to get these letters to Santa, they'll only be a couple, it's really nothing to even think about," Glaub said. "This sort of fluke has now turned into Christmas tradition."
That first year, Glaub received a few letters, but by year three, he received hundreds.
But why? One theory is that in 1882, Clement Clarke Moore lived on the street and penned his classic "The Night Before Christmas."
"There was the thought that when he wrote that poem, people thought he was Santa and had delivered letters to his estate," Glaub said.
There were so many letters that friends, family and an army of elves helped fulfill all the wishes.
Now Glaub and his friends work their magic digitally through his nonprofit called Miracle On 22nd Street.
Tina Fey is even working on a movie based on their workshop.
"It just shows that there is this need for hope, a need for giving back, and it really is the greatest gift," Glaub said.
He has since moved out of that apartment, but now Meredith McKernan lives there and she says the letters keep on coming.
"At first I thought it was kind of weird, but that was before I saw a real letter and when we got our first letter, it was exciting," McKernan said.
Click here if you would like to become an elf and help spread some holiday cheer.
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