--- title: New Jersey House Fined Thousands for Christmas Lights description: A New Jersey family is facing thousands of dollars in fines over their extravagant Christmas lights display at their home. canonical: https://time.com/5467393/christmas-lights-fined/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-29T21:45:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:56:14.343Z og:title: Well-Intentioned Family Fined Thousands for Christmas Lights og:description: Not very merry og:url: https://time.com/5467393/christmas-lights-fined/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2122312af957b48a/6989404a929fad29ccbf233d/new-jersey-christmas-lights-fines.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Defocused Image Of Illuminated Christmas Lights og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Well-Intentioned Family Fined Thousands for Christmas Lights twitter:description: Not very merry twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2122312af957b48a/6989404a929fad29ccbf233d/new-jersey-christmas-lights-fines.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Family Faces Thousands in Fines for Epic Christmas Lights Because Spreading Cheer Will Cost You  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Nov 29, 2018 9:45 PM UTC  Photo Taken In Chiang Mai, Thailand Photo Taken In Chiang Mai, ThailandEakachai Leesin / EyeEm—Getty Images/EyeEm  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Nov 29, 2018 9:45 PM UTC A New Jersey family’s attempt to spread [Christmas cheer](http://time.com/5454985/white-house-christmas-2018/) could cost them thousands of dollars in fines this holiday season. For the Apruzzi family, the past 15 years, their home in Old Bridge, NJ, has been a destination for [epic Christmas light displays.](http://time.com/4597671/christmas-lights-shows-displays-homeowners/) In an interview with [_CBS_](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-jersey-family-faces-thousands-in-fines-christmas-light-display/), Tom Apruzzi explains it succinctly: “I just love Christmas.” These extravagant light displays, however, have presented tension with neighbors who think that the showy display is chaotic for the community and could pose a safety threat due to heavy foot traffic, minimal street parking and accessibility for first responders. As a result, some have asked Old Bridge mayor Owen Henry and other city officials to intervene. While Apruzzi told _CBS_ that he’s paid almost $150,000 to put on the display for the past 15 years, this year he also faces a $3,000 fine for every night his Christmas light show is on. The Apruzzis’ light display first gained significant attention after it was featured in an episode of _The Great Christmas Light Fight_; they’ve used the interest in their light display to help collect visitor donations for veterans charity, “Home for Our Troops,” raising over $30,000 in the past six years, acording to Apruzzi. As of right now, the Apruzzis plan on paying for the first shows of the holiday season out of pocket, although a [GoFundMe](https://www.gofundme.com/hhbfe2-save-the-lights) page was also set up to help offset costs. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5467393/christmas-lights-fined/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5467393/christmas-lights-fined/"},"headline":"Family Faces Thousands in Fines for Epic Christmas Lights Because Spreading Cheer Will Cost You","datePublished":"2018-11-29T21:45:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:56:14.343Z","description":"Not very merry","url":"https://time.com/5467393/christmas-lights-fined/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","Holidays 2018"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2122312af957b48a/6989404a929fad29ccbf233d/new-jersey-christmas-lights-fines.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2122312af957b48a/6989404a929fad29ccbf233d/new-jersey-christmas-lights-fines.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Defocused Image Of Illuminated Christmas Lights","caption":"Defocused Image Of Illuminated Christmas Lights","creditText":"Eakachai Leesin / EyeEm—Getty Images/EyeEm","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5467393/christmas-lights-fined/","name":"Family Faces Thousands in Fines for Epic Christmas Lights Because Spreading Cheer Will Cost You"}}]}] ```