NEW YORK — For countless New Yorkers, the Village Halloween Parade is an annual favorite, but earlier this year organizers painted a dire picture. Despite getting approval from the city, they didn't have enough money to pull it off.

Organizers put out word to the public that if they didn't raise enough funds by Oct. 5, the parade would have to be cancelled.  That was something that seemed unthinkable to Jason Feldman.

"I heard that there was a shortfall, and with that shortfall I'm thinking that the number they gave, I said, 'I'd be willing to do that if they really needed it'," Feldman said.

A Brooklyn native and self-described life-long fan of the parade, he's now what organizers are calling a "Halloween hero" after donating $150,000 to make it happen.

"To my ear on the one hand, it sounds like a lot of money, and then on the other hand, I've worked so hard for so many years," explained Feldman.

A financial advisor who specializes in wealth management, Feldman said this is a way to share that good fortune with the city.

"My memories are that it was also just a fun moment where New Yorkers get to be the most carefree version of themselves," Feldman said. "And after what we've just been through with the pandemic, it seemed like very, very good medicine."

He had hoped to take his teenage daughter to the parade last year, but it was cancelled.  This year, he said they'll be there, where his gift might make him as popular as the grand marshal.

And, when asked how he'll feel on Halloween night celebrating with other New Yorkers during a pandemic that has forced separation, he said it will be an inexplicable moment.

"If I never got an interview like this it would still be that inexplicable happy feeling when someone knows that they did something good for other people," Feldman said.