Posts Tagged ‘Santa Claus’

Celebrate Christmas in NYC with the Holiday Train Show, Department Store Windows and Santa Claus

It’s almost Christmas in New York City — well, not really. But Christmas festivities and sales start earlier and earlier each year and decorations are popping up all over the city.

Here are three don’t-miss activities to consider:

Credit: AP Photo/Julio Cortez

This year, you’ll have to do a bit more planning if your children hope to sit on Santa Claus’s lap.  Macy’s wants to make the process more efficient and handle the huge number of people lining up to visit Saint Nick. Santa makes his appearance at “the world’s largest department store” from Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve, but you’ll need to reserve online to get a spot. Starting just before Thanksgiving, you can book a spot at Macy’s Santa Land at Macy’s Herald Square, 8th floor, at https://www.macys.com/social/santa-land/. No walk-ins are allowed, so don’t delay. Spots will go quickly, particularly after the ads sure to come during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade on Thursday. 151 West 34th Street, Manhattan.

Holiday windows are starting to appear all over the city. Now is the perfect time to visit before the mad Christmas rush.  Particularly appealing, Bergdorf Goodman’s “To New York with Love” windows showcase some of New York City’s most iconic places this year, including the New York Botanical Gardens, the Museum of the Moving Image, the New York Historical Society Museum & Library, the American Museum of Natural History, and the New York Philharmonic. www.bergdorfgoodman.com, 754 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan. Look for others at Saks Fifth Avenue (“Once upon a Holiday”), Barney’s New York (“Hass for the Holidays”), Bloomingdale’s (“The Greatest Showman”), Lord  & Taylor (“The Best and the Brightest”), and Macy’s Herald Square (“The Perfect Gift Brings People Together”).

The 16th annual Holiday Train Show at Grand Central Terminal is brought to you by the New York Transit Museum.  A favorite among children of all ages (and their parents), the show includes movement, lights, sound and color and gets increasingly crowded as shoppers throng the major transit hub closer to Christmas. In the exhibit, model trains travel through tunnels, from subway stop to subway stop, and around skyscrapers as they meander through New York City locations. The show is free and runs from 6am-8pm, through February 4, 2018. 89 East 42nd Street, Manhattan. http://www.grandcentralterminal.com/event/holiday-train-show/

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Celebrate the Beginning of the Holiday Season in Park Slope on November 28

Park Slope 5th Avenue’s family-friendly, homegrown holiday festival, High 5 for the Holidays, is back this year to celebrate the season and kick off the “Shop Local” movement from American Express. Selected by American Express as one of the most representative districts for Small Business Saturday, Park Slope 5th Avenue is a great mix of 500+ independent shops, bars and restaurants.

5thAve Tree Lightin in Park Slope, Brooklyn

Saturday, November 28 is not just about commercialism and Christmas creep. You can shop all day, but there’s more. The tree lighting ceremony happens at 6:30pm until 9pm at the corner of 5th Avenue and 4th Street in Park Slope, with lights, Santa Claus, free hot chocolate and treats from Du Jour Bakery, The Chocolate Room and Le Pain Quotidien.

You’ll get a chance to meet or at least wave at Santa Claus as he zips along in a sports car, doling out candy canes to onlookers.

Music will be provided by Rolie Polie Guacamolie featuring Amelia Robinson of Mils Trills, 15-year-old pop opera sensation Sarah Stevens, plus carolers from Opera on Top.

Beyond music, there’s arts and crafts for the family, too. Check out the puppets from Puppetry Arts and Prospect Park YMCA.

Theater lovers will have a chance to win Broadway tickets as well as High 5 for the Holidays shopping bags.

The festival happens all day – more information at http://parkslopefifthavenuebid.com/high5 or at the shops, restaurants and bars along the 30-block stretch of 5th Avenue from Dean Street to 18th Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Caroling, Cocoa and Jazz Cruises: How to Tour the City This Winter

Caroling, Cocoa and Jazz Cruises: How to Tour the City This WinterDo you hate the commotion in the city this time of the year? Instead of feeling like Santa Claus, are you scowling like Scrooge? We completely understand it.  A simple taxi ride takes four times as long as it should, assuming you can even find a taxi. Busses are full up at 7am. And you have to endure police stringing “do not enter” tape across streets near Rockefeller Center in the most simplistic and makeshift type of traffic management technique ever concocted.  Help! we need a way to enjoy our city at this most magical time of the year.

Enter Classic Harbor Line. I really love what they’re offering to get you off the city’s crowded streets and out of the crazy NYC commercial scene. Grab your spouse, your significant other, your BFF and all of your family for a tour of the city decked out in its holiday splendor…. from the water. On a cruise leaving from Chelsea Piers (Pier 62, West 22nd Street and Hudson River), you’ll get to see the city lights on a one and a half hour sail, seated indoors in complete comfort, with live carolers or jazz musicians as your hosts.

Pretty cool?  Actually, quite warm. You’ll be back to singing “it’s a holly jolly Christmas” in a flash as you snuggle up in a heated back-deck salon on a 1920s-style sailing vessel.  Aboard the Luxury Yacht Manhattan, you’ll soak in the scenery as you stay toasty with cocoa and cookie treats.  (Adults have a choice of beer, wine, spiked hot cocoa or champagne as well).

Caroling, Cocoa and Jazz Cruises: How to Tour the City This WinterBattery Park, South Street Seaport, and the Financial District are your twinkling downtown sights, along with gorgeous views of Governor’s Island, The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  Depending on the weather and the course taken, you’ll also see some areas of Brooklyn and Queens, and, of course, the Manhattan skyline.

Jazz concerts take place Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Caroling (with guest participation encouraged) is scheduled for Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Now through January 2.  Adult tickets are priced at $56; children’s tickets are $36. Cruises start as early as 4pm, with the latest sailing at 8pm. Check https://www.zerve.com/SailNYC/Cocoa for available dates and sail times.  www.sail-nyc.com

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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