Visiting New York City at Christmas Time

Nothing is more beautiful than Central Park wreathed in snow. Carriage horses clopping softly through the park with snow- muffled hooves while lovers hold hands. Skaters turning pirouettes in Rockefeller Center under Golden Prometheus.

New York and Christmas are inextricably intertwined. The famous poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas", familiarly known by it's opening lines, "Twas the Night before Christmas,... was penned by Clark Clement Moore whose farm is now New York's Chelsea neighborhood.

Our modern Santa Claus was largely a product of Thomas Nast, the "nasty" man (in the words of corrupt Mayor Hall, aka. "Mayor Haul") whose scathing cartoons brought down corrupt Taminent Hall.

Now is the time to see the New York that New Yorkers see at Christmas. The Christmas season in this highly mercantile city traditionally kicks off on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Named in honor of the most profitable weeks of the merchant's season, this is also the time when stores array themselves in their finest holiday garb. As much as the traditional Macy's Santa Claus, the store windows themselves match any museum display and cost many thousands of dollars to produce.

The best store windows are in Macy's on 34th Street and Broadway. Every year this store brings us a magnificent delight worthy of the showmanship found in its legendary Thanksgiving parades and its awe-inspiring Spring flower show. After you have seen the Macy's windows and let your children sit on Santa's lap, walk one block East to Fifth Avenue to see the famous store windows there ranging from Lord & Taylor's on 38th Street up through Saks Fifth Avenue on 48th next to Saint Patrick's Cathedral and ending with Bloomingdales on 59th Street.

After viewing Saks Fifth Avenue's impressive windows, detour west into Rockefeller Center to view the impressive Christmas tree at the center of the action. This massive tree had its roots in the dark days of the great Depression when some construction workers brought in a small tree to mark the observance. Today, people vie to have their trees selected for the honor. Skating in the small rink under the tree is a New York tradition and perhaps one of the most romantic things one can ever do.

After you have viewed the tree and Christmas displays, you may want to stop by nearby Radio City to buy tickets for the Christmas show. This venerable theater has been performing its classic show since my grandmother's days but it remains fresh and is still one of the best show bargains in New York. If you are strapped, try to avoid the peak times nearest Christmas by picking an earlier or later performance.

Christmas is for children. Take them to the Citicorp Center on Lexington Avenue and 51st Street for Citicorp's legendary train displays. This New York Holiday Tradition for more than 20 years has featured an array of trains in different gauges running the length of a room. The complete scale model world changes each year, but features a vast panorama with meticulously timed lights that allow the trains to cycle through an entire day from first light to night.

After showing them the trains, bring them to FAO Schwarz, New York City's "Toy Museum." This elegant, but pricey store has been known as the "toy museum" to generations of New York children who were first introduced to its glories by parents who advised them in all seriousness that the toys were not for sale, but merely for display. Ogling, but not buying, is a tradition fondly remembered by New Yorkers of a certain age.

After visiting FAO Schwarz, continue into Central Park, where with any luck you will see the lake wreathed in snow. Central Park has ice-skating rinks at both its south and north ends and as in Rockefeller Center, the sight of lovers, families and children skating under the snow-filled trees is an unforgettable experience.

If you continue uptown along the East side, you will eventually reach the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is one of the most impressive art museums in the world, and is worth several visits. Although I have been visiting this museum regularly for over 40 years, I have yet to see every room.

But at Christmas, there is only one room to see: the Medieval Sculpture Hall that displays the Neapolitan Creche and the Metropolitan Museum's famous tree. This 18th Century nativity display was a labor of love by one family who painstakingly assembled the pieces and whose descendent's still have input into the correct placement of each piece.

This beautiful devotional work of art features every imaginable animal and men of every race and creed proceeding to Nazareth to witness the holy birth. For me, to see the varied faces of the tiny manikins is to be reminded that New York was not the first multicultural city, nor will it be the last. The Italy of four centuries ago were also the crossroads of their world.

After you have paid your respects to the Metropolitan Museum tree, continue uptown and swing west to visit its famed rival, The American Museum of Natural History, at the opposite side of the park. This museum, beloved of Theodore Roosevelt, is the home of the famous Origami Tree which is painstakingly decorated with hundreds of hand-folded ornaments.

Although both of these museums have "Suggested Admissions" that can be quite pricey, they will let you in for a donation of as little as $1.00. If you stick to the main museum, and skip the frills and exhibits with additional charges you can get away cheap even in a city known for gouging tourists.

If you have additional time, you may want to visit the South Street Seaport in the downtown heart of old New York to enjoy the street performers, listen to the singers in the Choral Christmas tree and visit the old schooners still berthed there.

You will get a flavor of the original maritime attractions that turned the port of New York into one of the most important and prosperous in the world back in the day. This is also the best place to pick up cut-rate tickets for Broadway shows, since it is less crowded than the more famous Duffy Square outlet in Times Square. If you want to spring for tickets, take cash. You will save a mint, but they don't take credit cards.

If you have still more time, you will want to head up to the Bronx where both the Zoo and Botanical gardens are conveniently located across the street from each other and both feature temptations for the kids. If you visit the Gardens, you will want to spring for tickets to see their holiday train show. This one features reproductions of all of New York's most famous buildings made of botanical materials such as tiny shingles fashioned from acorn caps.

The nearby zoo dimmed it's traditional holiday lights as a nod toward reduction of its carbon footprint, but it typically features Christmas animals such as reindeer in a bow toward the season. Please note that one of the most impressive Christmas displays in New York City take place in nearby Pelham Parkway where Italian families have vied for the honor of most beautiful for generations.

Nearby City Island and Arthur Avenue are both available to feed a hungry crew. These are a short distance away by bus or car from the garden and both neighborhoods are justly famous for their cuisine-Arthur Avenue for fine Italian, City Island for seafood.

When you visit us for Christmas, dress warm. The early part of the season, around the end of November is typically in the 40's, but New York can weight in in the nippy single digits closer to New Years.

Sources:
www.philaprintshop.com/nastxmas.html
www.macys.com/
www.lordandtaylor.com/
www.saksfifthavenue.com/Entry.jsp
www.radiocity.com/
www.bloomingdales.com/
www.metmuseum.org/
www.amnh.org/
www.fao.com/index.html
www.nycgo.com/
www.mta.info/nyct/index.html
www.southstreetseaport.com/
www.tdf.org/TDF_ServicePage.aspx
www.nybg.org/
www.bronxzoo.com/
www.arthuravenue.com/Dispatch.jsp
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