They’re sleighing it.
Three buddies have made it an almost decade-long holiday tradition to dress up in elaborate costumes — ranging from farmers to sailors to even Hooters girls — for pictures with a mall Santa Claus from Long Island to New Jersey, delighting onlookers.
“The employees have actually comped the photos in the past because they love it so much,” 29-year-old Zach Kayal told The Post of the Christmas custom he shares with his two best friends.
The goofy trio — (from right) Rob Pelaez, Alex “Dre” Dreher and Zach Kayal — pose as milkman for one of their fun annual photos with Santa.
Photos of the best buds in their jazzercise costumes this year at the Roosevelt Field Mall went viral.
“Santa is always in good spirits, parents want their kids to take photos with us for their own albums, and people pull us into their stores, too,” Kayal said.
This year, Kayal and pals Rob Pelaez and Alex “Dre” Dreher went viral on the popular meme page Long Island Wiseguy for their neon ’80s-themed jazzercise get-ups while waiting in line for a photo at the Roosevelt Field Mall.
“We brainstorm our look all year, and by October, we usually have it narrowed down to two or three,” said the 29-year-old Pelaez, who, as with Kayal, works in sales.
“We’ve also been asked to come back for the Easter bunny,” said the bona fide goofball, known to quote “SpongeBob SquarePants” in social settings.
The guys plowed through one holiday season as farmers.
The trio has grown pencil mustaches to imitate the ’90s Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson look one year and goatees to pose as farmers in another, worn Benjamin Franklin-style balding caps, social-distanced with Santa as cyclists in 2020 and brought props to be milkmen other times.
Santa’s very special helpers have spent hundreds of dollars over the years on their looks.
“One year, we were asked by workers to enter a competition for the best Santa photos in all of North America,” said Kayal, who recently married a very tolerant optometrist named Kat.
Not elfing around
The goofballs do their best Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson for one sitting.
While wacky to the public, the origin story of their nine years of peculiar portraits is surprisingly touching.
The three grew up as childhood friends in Sparta, NJ, and had to part ways in 2014 when Pelaez and Kayal attended Long Island’s Hofstra University and later became roommates nearby.
They quickly learned there would be only a few days to see each other before Christmas, and in 2017, decided to do some fateful last-minute shopping together at a mall in Rockaway, NJ.
“Rob said, ‘Oh, we should take a photo with Santa,’ and then we kind of laughed it off,” recalled Kayal, who still lives near the Nassau County campus.
“Then I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it. But if we take this photo, we’ve got to make this a yearly tradition.’ “
The men never realized what their first joint Santa photo, here in 2017, would become.
The silly stunt, which included sending the photo in holiday cards, has become the only chance for the three to see each other at Christmastime, as life has taken the guys in different directions.
Pelaez moved to New Hampshire two years ago and, in October, married a non-judgmental nurse named Alyssa with whom he never had to vocalize the significance of the Santa snaps.
Dreher, who is also 29, stayed closer to home in the Garden State and works at a local pizzeria.
“I always tell people, I don’t really miss Long Island, I don’t really miss New Jersey, but I really miss the people — and those two specifically,” Pelaez said.
The guys conjure up Ben Franklin during one stint.
The trio try not to bust up posing as Hooters girls.
“It’s always fun to hang around goofy and silly with them, but I always make sure it’s important to see them during the holidays because it is just like seeing my mom or my dad.”
The trio’s annual Santa photo — it has taken place at Roosevelt Field three times and at the Rockaway mall six times — means more and more each year as their lives grow even busier.
“When I gave the best man speech at Rob’s wedding, I had him promise to keep doing the Santa photo,” Kayal said.
When Kayal gave the best man’s toast at Pelaez’s recent wedding, a promise to keep doing the Santa photos was made.
“We’ll never let distance be a reason to take us apart.”
Kayal said, “If getting a photo means on a Wednesday afternoon, we each drive two hours to a mall in Connecticut, grab dinner and then go home, that’s something we’ll do.”
The guys social-distanced from Santa while posing as cyclists in 2020.
The best mates give Santa a belly laugh.
Now the champions of Christmas are brainstorming a big plan for next year’s milestone 10th picture and have just created an Instagram account to gather public feedback on possible future costumes.
“The dream is to make a calendar after year 12,” Kayal said.
“We honestly see this as a tradition that will go forever.”
