Key Takeaways
- 🎃 An Alice in Wonderland-inspired Halloween display has taken over a four-story townhouse at 158 East 78th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side
- 🌹 The decorations feature giant playing cards, floating teacups, oversized red and white roses, the Queen of Hearts’ gardeners painting the roses red, and a grinning Cheshire Cat
- 🃏 The display is free to see from the public sidewalk, with no tickets required. The closest subway stop is 77th Street on the 6 train, and other elaborate Halloween displays can be found throughout the neighborhood
Who needs to fall down a rabbit hole when you can find Wonderland right in the middle of New York City? This Halloween, a 127-year-old brownstone on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, a neighborhood famous for its wealthy residents and extravagant Halloween decorations, has been transformed into a whimsical Alice in Wonderland-inspired display, complete with flying playing cards, floating teacups, enormous red roses, and a grinning Cheshire Cat watching over the street.
Located at 158 East 78th Street, the four-story townhouse has turned its front garden into the Queen of Hearts’ famous rose garden, filled with oversized red and white roses, climbing vines, and giant playing cards featuring all four suits: hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades. Among the flowers, you’ll spot the Queen’s unfortunate gardeners, dressed in white with playing-card symbols and busy painting the white roses red. Some of the cards stand several feet tall, while others appear to tumble through the air and climb up the building’s facade.
Fans of Disney’s 1951 animated classic will recognize the scene, in which three playing-card gardeners accidentally plant white roses instead of the red ones the Queen of Hearts demands. Fearing her temper, they frantically paint the roses red while singing ‘Painting the Roses Red.’ Alice even joins in to help, but when the Queen arrives and discovers what they’ve done, she shouts her famous command, ‘Off with their heads!’
And don’t forget to look up! A giant purple-and-pink Cheshire Cat peeks out from above one of the upper windows, flashing his mischievous grin. Just below him, a silhouette of Alice appears to be tumbling through the air, surrounded by floating teacups and playing cards, with a warm yellow glow behind her. The decorations continue across the upper floors, where bright pink folding flower fans stretch across the windows and flower boxes overflow with red roses and greenery. Even the black iron fence around the front garden is covered in flowers and playing cards.
Of course, Wonderland isn’t the only Halloween surprise on East 78th Street! Right next door, another townhouse has been transformed into an old-fashioned psychiatric hospital, with a glowing red ‘156 Psychiatric Hospital – Ward 13’ sign above the entrance. Skeleton patients in hospital gowns hang from the windows, while another sits in a wheelchair outside. You’ll also spot oversized syringes, hanging IV bags filled with red liquid, chains, cobwebs, vintage patient portraits, and a glowing red medical cross. Red lighting throughout makes the whole place look even creepier after dark!…