He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake — and he knows how to get past your home security.
One little boy who visited Santa at Macy’s in Herald Square was mostly quiet when asked what he wanted for Christmas. But after he hopped off Claus’ lap, he rushed back, yelling, “1-5-1-5!”
“That was the code to his alarm,” St. Nick said, laughing and shaking like a bowl full of jelly. “He didn’t know what he wanted for Christmas, but he wanted to make sure Santa could get in.”
Santas at city stores and malls shared with The Post some of their favorite young visitors this season.
Most kids recited the season’s top toys — Barbie, Lalaloopsy and Elsa (from “Frozen”) dolls for girls, and Legos, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and video games for boys — but some threw the jolly old elf a curveball.
One tyke asked Bloomingdale’s Santa for “a magic crystal that would grant any wish.”
And a future beauty queen at Queens Center asked for “world peace.”
“I think she was being facetious,” the Santa recalled.
A kid with retro tastes asked The Plaza hotel’s Santa for a phonograph.
“I haven’t had a phonograph request for 50 years,” the Santa said.
A boy asked Macy’s St. Nick for an eel, while another wanted an outfit to match his pet.
Each Santa could recall at least one visit that touched their hearts.
At The Plaza, a 4-year-old boy hesitated before visiting Kris Kringle. His mom whispered that the boy’s father had died three months earlier.
When Santa asked what he wanted for Christmas, the boy replied, “Can you tell my dad I love him?”
“I hugged the little boy, and I said, ‘Not only will I tell him you love him, but I know he loves you, too,’ ” recalled Santa, his eyes welling with tears.
“They believe that I can do that, so I have to express to them that I can do it and it will be done.”
The Plaza’s St. Nick says he “gets emotional all the time” on the job, including when a girl, about 6, asked, “Santa, can you bring me a Barbie doll because my mommy can’t afford it?”
Then there was the mom who, despite having obviously been through chemotherapy, brought her kids to see Macy’s Santa. The kid seemed sad.
“But not the mother!” the Santa recalled. “She had so much spirit.”
At one point, she said, “Santa, I’d give you a kiss, but I just washed my hair!” even though she barely had any left.
“The children told me that they wanted their mother to be with Santa to share this Christmas moment,” the Santa said. “I’m always reminding them that it’s not the presents that make this the most wonderful time of the year. It’s being together, and it’s feeling the Christmas spirit.”