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.
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Lenox Hill
416 East 74th Street
$2,975No Fee
1 |
1
Inwood
5009 Broadway
$2,007No Fee
1 |
1
Upper West Side
76 West 85th Street
$2,800No Fee
Studio |
1
Upper West Side
156 West 74th Street
$2,500No Fee
Studio |
1
Carnegie Hill
116 East 92nd Street
$2,800No Fee
1 |
1
Lenox Hill
1132 First Avenue
$2,450No Fee
Studio |
1
Washington Heights
579 West 177th Street
$1,850No Fee
1 |
1
Midtown
135 East 54th Street
$2,850No Fee
Studio |
1
Little Italy
160 Mott Street
$2,000No Fee
Studio |
1
East Harlem
314 East 106th Street
$2,595No Fee
1 |
1
Upper East Side
126 East 83rd Street
$2,400No Fee
Studio |
1
Turtle Bay
334 East 53rd Street
$2,675No 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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Chinatown
210 Canal Street
$749,000
2 |
0.5
Central Harlem
57 West 127th Street
$597,000
1 |
1
Central Harlem
70 West 139th Street
$698,000
1 |
1
Lincoln Square
201 West 70th Street
$689,500
Studio |
1
Financial District
20 Pine Street
$775,000
1 |
1
Murray Hill
123 East 37th Street
$660,000
1 |
1
Kips Bay
305 East 24th Street
$539,000
1 |
1
Manhattan Valley
220 Manhattan Avenue
$550,000
1 |
1
Central Harlem
171 W 131st Street
$729,000
1 |
1
Murray Hill
630 First Avenue
$885,000
1 |
2
Turtle Bay
236 East 47th Street
$875,000
1 |
1
Sutton Place
420 East 55th Street
$957,500
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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Stuyvesant Heights
560 Hancock Street
$2,950No Fee
1 |
1
Clinton Hill
469 Myrtle Avenue
$2,550No Fee
1 |
1
Bensonhurst
1418 82nd Street
$2,700No Fee
Studio |
1
Stuyvesant Heights
86 Lewis Avenue
$2,750No Fee
1 |
1
Weeksville
1582 Prospect Place
$2,900No Fee
3 |
1
Crown Heights
1176 Park Place
$2,400No Fee
Studio |
1
Bedford-Stuyvesant
299 Hancock Street
$2,695No Fee
Studio |
1
Greenwood
725 Fourth Avenue
$2,600No Fee
2 |
1
Dyker Heights
75 Battery Avenue
$2,500No Fee
2 |
1
Bay Ridge
160 72nd Street
$2,200No Fee
1 |
1
Stuyvesant Heights
126 Bainbridge Street
$2,800No Fee
2 |
1
Midwood
1801 Avenue N
$1,800No Fee
Studio |
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
8506 14th Avenue
$1,148,000
2 |
2
Dyker Heights
1045 71st Street
$1,495,000
3 |
3
Dyker Heights
965 73rd Street
$980,000
3 |
1
Dyker Heights
1241 86th Street
$1,100,000
3 |
2.5
Dyker Heights
956 79th Street
$998,000
4 |
2.5
Dyker Heights
1050 81st Street
$1,249,000
3 |
1.5
Dyker Heights
7515 Tenth Avenue
$1,168,000
3 |
2
Dyker Heights
1340 84th Street
$998,000
3 |
2
Dyker Heights
680 81st Street
$475,000
2 |
2
Dyker Heights
1167 76th Street
$1,088,000
3 |
1.5
Dyker Heights
944 81st Street
$1,100,000
3 |
1.5
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
385 First Avenue
$1,150,000
1 |
1
Gramercy Park
211 East 18th Street
$1,825,000
2 |
2
Gramercy Park
205 Third Avenue
$685,000
1 |
1
Gramercy Park
160 East 22nd Street
$1,430,000
1 |
1
Gramercy Park
201 East 21st Street
$1,695,000
2 |
1
Gramercy Park
200 East 20th Street
$1,710,000
1 |
1
Gramercy Park
200 East 20th Street
$1,980,000
1 |
1.5
Gramercy Park
385 First Avenue
$1,325,000
1 |
1
Gramercy Park
130 East 18th Street
$788,000
1 |
1
Gramercy Park
32 Gramercy Park South
$825,000
1 |
1
Gramercy Park
105 East 15th Street
$800,000
1 |
1
Gramercy Park
130 East 17th Street
$350,000
Studio |
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.