By Zora O’Neill, Lonely Planet
In the thick of the holiday season, New York is bustling with energy, even as the temperature drops. Pack your winter woollies, and prepare to spend a lot of time wrapping and unwrapping your scarf and checking for your hat and gloves. You’ll be dashing in and out of stores, gliding across the ice and standing out in the cold with crowds to celebrate glowing Christmas trees or New Year’s parties.
The New York Palace Hotel’s Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center on December 4, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images)
Rockefeller Center tree lighting
On the first Wednesday of December, an enormous live tree outside the Rockefeller Center is illuminated with thousands of colored bulbs. This year’s was trucked in from Pennsylvania, measures 85 ft tall and is trimmed with 45,000 lights. The evening ceremony is televised, with entertainment starting at 7pm. You’ll want to be there earlier to stake out a spot (thousands attend) – or avoid the area altogether, and visit the glowing tree later in the month, till 11.30pm every night.
When: December 3 (tree is lit until January 7)
Where: Rockefeller Center (Fifth to Sixth Aves & 48th to 51st Sts)
More info: rockefellercenter.com
Santacon
It’s hard to believe, but this costumed bar crawl is actually a charity event – the thousands of participants are asked to contribute $10 apiece. Anyone is welcome to don a red suit and hat and join in the Christmas-themed swarm. And if you don’t participate, at least you’ll know why the streets of Manhattan are suddenly flooded with inebriated Santas and scantily clad elves.
When: December 13
Where: Route announced the night before
More info: nycsantacon.com
Holiday window displays
For the prime shopping season, the department stores and glitzy boutiques around Midtown replace their usual mannequins with wondrous scenes of holiday cheer – an opportunity for the creative window dressers to show their art, with animatronic scenes, music and even artful digital details. A tour is recommended even for non-shoppers. The densest concentration of displays is on Fifth Avenue in the 50s, with Bergdorf Goodman often the most creative. And don’t miss Barneys, on Madison Avenue, notorious for its especially offbeat take on holiday themes – this year, director Baz Luhrmann had a hand in their design.
When: all month
Where: Macy’s (34th St & Broadway), Lord & Taylor (39th St & Fifth Ave), Saks Fifth Avenue (49th St & Fifth Ave) up to Henri Bendel (56th St & Fifth Ave), Barneys New York (62nd St & Madison Ave), Bloomingdale’s (59th St & Third Ave)
BAM Next Wave Festival
Every fall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) hosts its celebrated Next Wave Festival, which features big names in avant-garde theater, dance, music and performance art. Top events closing out the festival in December include a Buddhism-inspired vocal work by Meredith Monk and Philip Glass’s complete piano etudes, performed by nine top pianists.
When: until December 20
Where: 30 Lafayette Ave, between Ashland Pl and St Felix St, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
More info: bam.org
Winter Solstice Concert
For more than 35 years, saxophonist Paul Winter has been hosting this musical event on the longest night of the year. It’s usually an eclectic lineup, and an excellent excuse to sit for a spell and enjoy the grandeur of America’s largest house of worship, dramatically lit for the occasion.
When: December 18–20
Where: Cathedral Church of St John the Divine (1047 Amsterdam Ave, at W 112th St)
More info: solsticeconcert.com
Radio City Christmas Spectacular
The Rockettes have been high-kicking at the gorgeous Radio City Music Hall since 1932, and the holiday show is a razzle-dazzle confection of precision dancing, pyrotechnics and live camels. (The camels are part of a living nativity scene; you might spot them out for a stroll in the blocks near Radio City around this time.) It’s unapologetically touristy, but also an American classic, featuring most of the same dance routines devised in the 1930s.
When: until December 31
Where: Radio City Music Hall (50th St & 6th Ave)
More info: radiocitychristmas.com
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