The letters began pouring last month as they do every holiday season. Each begins “Dear Santa” and all are addressed to an apartment on 22nd Street in Manhattan. It’s a mystery as to how this residence — once owned by Jim Glaub and husband Dylan Parker — became known as St. Nick’s, but the couple who now reside in London, have worked tirelessly with a team of volunteer elves since 2010 to ensure that every child receives a response.
It’s a story that has touched the hearts of millions — including Tina Fey, who created a movie based on the Miracle on 22nd Street project that will hit theaters in 2019.
“So far this year we’ve received more than 200 letters,” Glaub tells Us Weekly. Requests range from iPads to a warm blanket. Often a child will ask for a warm coat for his mom, or a winter hat for his little sister. Says Glaub, 37: “Those are the letters that make me cry.”
Getting choked up while sifting through the mail is a regular occurrence for Glaub and Parker, 36. “My younger brother has a hard time walking and has to have wheelchair when we go places. I wish he could play like me. I also wish my brother brother could eat like me and not have his feeding tube. I no these are not real presents but this is all I want this year,” wrote one girl. A little boy named Spencer hopes for new socks “that keep my legs warm.”
To fulfill the wish lists, Glaub and Parker rely on volunteers from “The Miracle on 22nd Street” Facebook group.
When Glaub was asked by Today in 2016 about the possibility that some of the letters are scams, he told a story about a New York City woman who tracked her package to the doorstep of where it was delivered.
“She was across the street watching and like it was out of a movie, a bunch of kids run outside and catch the postman,” Glaub recalled. “She was crying, mascara going down her face.”
