Everyone knows about the Rockettes, the department store windows, and the holiday markets. Don’t get us wrong, those are some of the best things about Christmas in NYC, but here are 10 less glitzy, more homey reasons to love Christmas and the holiday season in New York. Please share your own favorites in the comments!
The aroma of fresh Christmas trees is so much better than whatever the streets usually smell like the rest of the year. Christmas tree vendors can be found all over the city, often set up along the sidewalk, so you can take home your perfect tree.
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Murray Hill
320 East 42nd Street
$2,100No Fee
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1
Lincoln Square
235 West 63rd Street
$2,167No Fee
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1
Turtle Bay
140 East 46th Street
$2,750No Fee
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1
Fort George
10 Hillside Avenue
$1,950No Fee
1 |
1
Lenox Hill
1494 Second Avenue
$2,400No Fee
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1
Murray Hill
25 Tudor City Place
$2,800No Fee
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1
Gramercy Park
151 East 20th Street
$2,600No Fee
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1
Sutton Place
1073 First Avenue
$2,600No Fee
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1
Fort George
475 West 186th Street
$2,764No Fee
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1
Yorkville
509 East 81st Street
$2,550No Fee
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1
Lenox Hill
1479 York Avenue
$2,400No Fee
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1
Fort George
475 West 186th Street
$2,336No Fee
1 |
1
2. You can experience the city through gingerbread.
This 2018 display was a collaboration between Williams-Sonoma and StreetEasy.
It seems that every year, a new gingerbread holiday display pops up. In 2018, StreetEasy collaborated with Williams-Sonoma to create Gingerbread City, a model of NYC made with real gingerbread cookies. This year, check out The Great Borough Bake-Off display at the Museum of the City of New York through January 8. The display gave local bakers the opportunity to recreate their own NYC neighborhoods out of gingerbread. There’s even a gingerbread Staten Island ferry!
3. Walking down the street with a Christmas tree is totally normal.
Adding lights to the trees down Park Avenue’s median have been a fixture of the NYC holiday season on the Upper East Side since 1945. The tradition started as a way to honor the men and women who had died in World War II. You can see the illuminated trees along Park Avenue between 54th and 97th Streets. In addition, see the Helmsley Building at 230 Park Avenue between East 45th and 46th Streets lit up in red and green at nighttime!
5. The most charming neighborhoods become even more charming.
Some of NYC’s most historical, beloved neighborhoods are at their best during the holidays. Neighborhoods like Greenpoint, Astoria, Greenwich Village, and the West Village become bastions of tradition, decorations, and overall festivity this time of year. It’s enough to make the center of the universe feel more like a small town. There’s no better time to take a stroll through your favorite charming NYC nabe!
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Windsor Terrace
30 Ocean Parkway
$2,850No Fee
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1
Bushwick
129 Bleecker Street
$2,750No Fee
2 |
1
Bedford-Stuyvesant
1557 Fulton Street
$2,815No Fee
2 |
1
East Flatbush
823 Maple Street
$2,700No Fee
2 |
1
Prospect Park South
50 East Tenth Street
$2,650No Fee
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1
Prospect Park South
50 East Tenth Street
$2,657No Fee
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1
East Flatbush
823 Maple Street
$2,350No Fee
1 |
1
Bedford-Stuyvesant
511 Willoughby Avenue
$2,650No Fee
1 |
1
East Flatbush
823 Maple Street
$2,150No Fee
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1
Fort Hamilton
335 95th Street
$1,900No Fee
1 |
1
Prospect Lefferts Gardens
57 Lincoln Road
$2,275No Fee
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1
Stuyvesant Heights
1875 Atlantic Avenue
$2,800No Fee
1 |
1
6. The Dyker Heights Christmas lights never disappoint.
New Yorkers’ take on holiday lights is unlike any other, especially in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Dyker Heights. The nabe goes all out every year for Christmas and becomes “Dyker Lights“, attracting visitors from all over the city to see the spectacle. Year after year, it has remained a highlight (literally) of Christmas in NYC.
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Dyker Heights
8411 Twelfth Avenue
$1,249,000
3 |
2.5
Dyker Heights
7415 Tenth Avenue
$780,000
3 |
2
Dyker Heights
7423 Tenth Avenue
$798,898
3 |
2
Dyker Heights
1037 81st Street
$1,150,000
3 |
2
Dyker Heights
1247A 79th Street
$998,000
3 |
2
Dyker Heights
654 84th Street
$1,350,000
3 |
2.5
Dyker Heights
680 81st Street
$329,000
1 |
1
Dyker Heights
7306 13th Avenue
$1,295,000
2 |
1.5
Dyker Heights
1332 Ovington Avenue
$1,480,000
5 |
3
Dyker Heights
6511 Ft Hamilton Parkway
$999,000
3 |
2
Dyker Heights
1068 79th Street
$1,388,000
3 |
2.5
Dyker Heights
190 Battery Avenue
$1,198,000
4 |
2
7. The glimpses of Christmas trees in windows are always magical.
Christmas in NYC is the one time when peering into the windows of fancy brownstones is a bit more socially acceptable.
8. The New Yorker covers are consistently spot-on.
There are decades’ worth of memorable holiday New Yorker covers, but one favorite is the Eric Drooker cover from 2011 above, depicting Santa and his sleigh under the tracks of what looks like the 1 train in the Bronx. Or is it an elevated line in Coney Island? Or Queens? Either way, it’s a New York City dream come true.
9. Holiday pop-up bars start popping up everywhere.
The bar scene in NYC can get a little stale after a while, but the various holiday-themed pop-up bars that appear this time of year help keep things exciting. Some have been popping up every year for a while, like Rolf’s in Gramercy, and Miracle (this year they’re taking over Thief in Williamsburg, and The Cabinet in the East Village). Others are newer to the scene, like The Garret Coctelería and Frosty’s. Secret NYC has a list of the best NYC holiday pop-up bars happening in 2022.
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