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!
1. The streets smell like pine trees.
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.
Manhattan Rentals Under $3,000 on StreetEasyArticle continues below
Lower East Side
100 Allen Street
$2,995No Fee
1 |
1
Turtle Bay
132 East 45th Street
$2,900No Fee
Studio |
1
Yorkville
208 East 82nd Street
$2,750No Fee
1 |
1
Yorkville
1623 Second Avenue
$2,887No Fee
1 |
1
Lower East Side
247 Eldridge Street
$2,650No Fee
Studio |
1
Upper West Side
328 West 83rd Street
$2,425No Fee
Studio |
1
Yorkville
450-452 East 81st Street
$2,625No Fee
1 |
1
East Village
255 East 10th Street
$2,395No Fee
Studio |
1
Hudson Yards
506 Ninth Avenue
$2,559No Fee
1 |
1
South Harlem
227 Lenox Avenue
$2,375No Fee
Studio |
1
Washington Heights
206 Audubon Avenue
$2,100No Fee
2 |
1
Hell’s Kitchen
305 West 52nd Street
$2,950No Fee
Studio |
1
2. You can experience the city through gingerbread.
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.
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Turtle Bay
235 East 49th Street
$999,000
2 |
2
Murray Hill
264 Lexington Avenue
$899,000
2 |
1
Hell’s Kitchen
350 West 50th Street
$599,000
Studio |
1
Lincoln Square
303 West 66th Street
$675,000
1 |
1
Murray Hill
305 East 40th Street
$849,000
2 |
1
Upper West Side
609 Columbus Avenue
$575,000
1 |
1
Hell’s Kitchen
447 West 45th Street
$715,000
1 |
1
Yorkville
10 East End Avenue
$995,000
2 |
2
Greenwich Village
55 East 9th Street
$980,000
1 |
1
Lincoln Square
235 West End Avenue
$775,000
1 |
1
Central Harlem
145 West 129th Street
$699,000
1 |
1
Battery Park City
2 South End Avenue
$585,000
1 |
1
4. Park Avenue is as festive as ever.
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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Fort Hamilton
135 93rd Street
$2,699No Fee
2 |
1
Bedford-Stuyvesant
15 Van Buren Street
$2,800No Fee
2 |
1
Prospect Lefferts Gardens
305 Ocean Avenue
$2,246No Fee
1 |
1
Crown Heights
2027 Pacific Street
$2,320No Fee
1 |
1
Stuyvesant Heights
270 Malcolm X Boulevard
$2,700No Fee
1 |
1
East Flatbush
1634 Flatbush Avenue
$2,400No Fee
1 |
1
Ditmas Park
529 East 22nd Street
$2,225No Fee
2 |
1
Greenpoint
940 Lorimer Street
$2,800No Fee
Studio |
1
Flatbush
1250 New York Avenue
$2,400No Fee
1 |
1
Bushwick
1028 Madison Street
$2,800No Fee
2 |
1
Weeksville
1539 Park Place
$1,698No Fee
1 |
1
Kensington
227 Ocean Parkway
$2,950No 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
115 Dahlgren Place
$579,000
2 |
1
Dyker Heights
1227 78th Street
$1,349,000
3 |
1
Dyker Heights
99 Dahlgreen Place
$988,000
3 |
2
Dyker Heights
1045 Bay Ridge Avenue
$649,000
3 |
1.5
Dyker Heights
1322 77th Street
$1,198,000
4 |
2.5
Dyker Heights
8506 14th Avenue
$1,148,000
2 |
2
Dyker Heights
1045 71st Street
$1,378,000
3 |
3
Dyker Heights
965 73rd Street
$980,000
3 |
1
Dyker Heights
956 79th Street
$998,000
4 |
2.5
Dyker Heights
1050 81st Street
$1,249,000
3 |
1.5
Dyker Heights
1340 84th Street
$998,000
3 |
2
Dyker Heights
118 Battery Avenue
$1,449,000
Studio |
1
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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Gramercy Park
201 East 17th Street
$1,395,000
2 |
1.5
Gramercy Park
201 East 21st Street
$749,000
1 |
1
Gramercy Park
333 East 14th Street
$489,000
Studio |
1
Gramercy Park
323 East 21st Street
$399,000
Studio |
1
Gramercy Park
205 Third Avenue
$900,000
1 |
1
Gramercy Park
142 East 16th Street
$850,000
1 |
1
Gramercy Park
229 East 14th Street
$700,000
3 |
1
Gramercy Park
145 East 15th Street
$565,000
Studio |
1
Gramercy Park
205 Third Avenue
$1,100,000
1 |
1
Gramercy Park
7 Lexington Avenue
$775,000
Studio |
1
Gramercy Park
142 East 16th Street
$1,199,500
1 |
1
Gramercy Park
385 First Avenue
$1,150,000
1 |
1
10. The city quiets down a little.
On Christmas in NYC, shops close, subways and buses slow down, New Yorkers settle in — and for maybe half a minute, the city goes still.