The most wonderful time of the year has snuck up on us once again. And as New Yorkers know, it’s easy to get caught up in the festivities and put off your holiday shopping. If you’re scrambling to find gifts for your city-dwelling friends and family — or an aspirational New Yorker — don’t fret. Here are 10 perfect New York gift ideas.
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Gramercy Park
304 East 20th Street
$3,200No Fee
Studio |
1
Turtle Bay
132 East 45th Street
$2,800No Fee
Studio |
1
Lenox Hill
425 East 74th Street
$2,700No Fee
Studio |
1
Yorkville
1560 York Avenue
$2,800No Fee
1 |
1
Upper East Side
119 East 83rd Street
$3,100No Fee
Studio |
1
Lenox Hill
511 East 73rd Street
$3,295No Fee
2 |
1
Hudson Yards
331 West 35th Street
$3,075No Fee
2 |
1
West Village
108 Charles Street
$2,750No Fee
Studio |
1
Hell’s Kitchen
500 West 43rd Street
$3,150No Fee
Studio |
1
Little Italy
227 Grand Street
$3,495No Fee
1 |
1
South Harlem
2070 Frederick Douglas Boulevard
$3,495No Fee
2 |
2
East Harlem
1955 First Avenue
$2,599No Fee
Studio |
1
For the transit lover
There’s nothing more fitting for a populous that’s obsessed (consumed? disgruntled?) with the city’s transportation system than a subway-themed gift. From the New York Transit Museum Store, you can buy everything from MetroCard totes to subway-themed mugs and baby onesies.
You can purchase from the store online, or in-person at three different locations: the NY Transit Museum & Store in Downtown Brooklyn, the New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex & Store inside Grand Central Terminal, or the New York Transit Museum Shop in the Financial District. Check out the museum while you’re at it!
For the book lover
For the readers on your shopping list, go for New York-themed books. As you can imagine, there are countless fiction and non-fiction works on the subject. Local stores like The Strand and the Tenement Museum Shop have massive online and in-person selections of books about NYC. The Strand even offers a New York Collection bundle of used hardcover books on New York City history, culture, and more.
Literature fans will love Manhattan Beach by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jennifer Egan, a historical drama that takes place in 1940s Brooklyn. Or consider Colson Whitehead’s The Collosus of New York, an ultra-relatable collection of essays inspired by the city. For history fans, the acclaimed biography The Power Broker will give readers a thorough (like, 1,344-pages thorough) understanding of infamous city official Robert Moses and how he shaped New York into the metropolis we know today.
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Kensington
415 Beverley Road
$2,690No Fee
1 |
1
Sheepshead Bay
2001 East Ninth Street
$2,000No Fee
Studio |
1
Sheepshead Bay
2001 East Ninth Street
$2,350No Fee
2 |
1
Fiske Terrace
1270 Ocean Avenue
$1,995No Fee
1 |
1
Bushwick
121 Saint Nicholas Avenue
$2,200No Fee
1 |
1
Wingate
693 Winthrop Street
$2,200No Fee
1 |
1
Stuyvesant Heights
921 Gates Avenue
$2,995No Fee
2 |
1
Bedford-Stuyvesant
70 Kosciusko Street
$2,495No Fee
Studio |
1
Fort Hamilton
236 94th Street
$2,799No Fee
3 |
1
Williamsburg
478 Union Avenue
$2,300No Fee
Studio |
1
Kensington
588 East 8th Street
$2,290No Fee
Studio |
1
Prospect Park South
33 Westminster Road
$1,800No Fee
Studio |
1
For the financially-minded
There’s one New York gift idea that’ll always work when time is running out before the holidays: cash. And given the cost of living in NYC, New Yorkers need plenty of it.
A survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of StreetEasy asked New Yorkers about what they’d like to receive as a gift. When presented with the options of a vacation, money toward rent or a down payment, new electronics, or concert tickets, 2 out of 5 renters opted for the rent money, while 3 out of 10 aspiring buyers preferred money for a down payment. Recent sellers would also rather receive money toward a down payment on their next home than a trip or vacation. In other words, cash is king, especially for New Yorkers — and it’s an easy gift to give.
For the art and culture lover
You’ll never run out of gifts to give to the NYC culture hound in your life. But if you’re having a hard time choosing, here are a few ideas.
Jazz at Lincoln Center tickets or classes
As one of the leading jazz educational institutions and performance centers in the world, Jazz at Lincoln Center is a standout cultural institution in a city full of them. Give tickets to any of their stellar performances, or consider a Swing University class, where students learn about the history of jazz and how to appreciate the genre. Classes are held virtually, and can be purchased singularly or as a package.
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Jackson Heights
33-08 84th Street
$2,100No Fee
1 |
1
Ditmars-Steinway
21-23 27th Street
$2,150No Fee
1 |
1
Sunnyside
51-01 Skillman Avenue
$2,200No Fee
1 |
1
Astoria
30-69 36th Street
$1,800No Fee
1 |
1
Ridgewood
60-52 Madison Street
$2,300No Fee
1 |
1
Forest Hills
67-25 Dartmouth Street
$2,400No Fee
1 |
1
Briarwood
84-35 Lander Street
$2,350No Fee
2 |
1
Kew Gardens
83-61 116th Street
$1,960No Fee
Studio |
1
Woodside
40-20 69th Street
$2,425No Fee
1 |
1
Forest Hills
68-63 108th Street
$2,300No Fee
1 |
1
Ditmars-Steinway
21-39 23rd Street
$2,275No Fee
1 |
1
Woodside
53-23 Roosevelt Avenue
$2,295No Fee
1 |
1
NYC photography
Help your friends decorate their homes with famous New York photographs, like the one of those men lunching precariously on a skyscraper construction beam. If you want to pick up some cheap prints, you can find them at many stands near tourist-heavy spots, like Times Square or Columbus Circle. And if you want to class it up a bit, you can opt for framed prints or unique reproductions by vendors at NYC holiday markets or on sites like Etsy.
Museum memberships
A museum membership is a thoughtful gift that will keep on giving…at least until its expires. The Whitney Museum is expansive, hip, and has an outdoor terrace with Hudson River views for $90 per year. The Museum of Modern Art offers annual memberships for as low as $65, with higher tiers for the most dedicated of patrons. If you want to venture out of Manhattan and mix in a little nature with your nurture, think about a membership to the New York Botanical Garden or the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, whose exhibitions change with the seasons.
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Lenox Hill
169 East 69th Street
$849,000
1 |
1.5
Sutton Place
440 East 56th Street
$675,000
1 |
1
Lenox Hill
201 East 77th Street
$750,000
1 |
1
East Village
175 East 2nd Street
$1,195,000
1 |
1
Chinatown
210 Canal Street
$639,000
Studio |
0
Fulton/Seaport
5 Beekman Street
$1,395,000
1 |
1
Hell’s Kitchen
432 West 52nd Street
$929,888
1 |
1
Inwood
98 Park Terrace East
$365,000
1 |
1
Yorkville
501 East 79th Street
$1,395,000
2 |
2
Midtown South
372 Fifth Avenue
$475,000
Studio |
1
Fulton/Seaport
77 Fulton Street
$739,000
1 |
1
Midtown
77 West 55th Street
$999,000
1 |
2
Broadway tickets
Even if New Yorkers claim to hate Times Square, any sane person will make an exception for a Broadway show. If you’re looking to wow the lucky recipient, choose a coveted favorite like Hamilton, The Lion King, or Wicked. There are several resale and discount ticket sites and apps you can use to score a deal. If you want something a bit more low-key and less expensive, there are a slew of phenomenal off-Broadway theaters. Try Signature Theatre or Roundabout Theatre Company, which offer more intimate viewing experiences and top-notch performers, many of whom also work on more glitzy Broadway stages.
The New Yorker magazine subscription
Are you truly an NYC resident until you’re 20-plus weeks behind on your New Yorker pile? Give the gift of incredible long-form articles, restaurant recommendations, cultural commentary, and hilarious cartoons — all in one magazine that may take you an entire week to finish (in the best way!).
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Cypress Hills
121 Bradford Street
$600,000
4 |
3
Park Slope
226 15th Street
$999,999
1 |
1.5
Prospect Park South
34 Crooke Avenue
$1,199,000
2 |
2
Gerritsen Beach
33 Keen Court
$899,000
3 |
2.5
Gravesend
1917 West 8th Street
$1,129,000
5 |
3.5
Gerritsen Beach
33A Keen Court
$799,000
2 |
1.5
Gravesend
2652 Cropsey Avenue
$319,000
1 |
1
Brooklyn Heights
282 Henry Street
$750,000
1 |
1
Prospect Heights
338 Prospect Place
$950,000
2 |
1
Bushwick
1065 Bushwick Avenue
$1,300,000
4 |
3
Bay Ridge
180 72nd Street
$350,000
2 |
1
Gowanus
183A 13th Street
$799,000
1 |
1
For the sports fan
A love of sports runs deep in NYC’s pulsing, concrete-enshrouded heart, and team loyalties will always be a point of both pride and contention. Any Modell’s location in the city will have an array of local team gear. Or, browse the MLB Store for hats and jerseys from New York’s two baseball clubs. Whatever you’re gifting, though, don’t choose wrong — a Yankees fan will scoff at a Mets hat, and a Mets fan will certainly throw that Yankees jersey in the donation pile.
If you want to go all out, why not surprise and delight with tickets to a game? There are still a few games left in the NFL season, and the NHL season goes to mid-April. Tickets for next year’s MLB season are usually available this time of year, too. Grab home game tickets for the Giants, Jets, Rangers, Islanders, Yankees, or Mets.
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Lindenwood
86-17 Shore Parkway
$389,000
2 |
1
Forest Hills
61-20 Grand Central Parkway
$305,999
1 |
1
Jackson Heights
33-26 82nd Street
$419,000
2 |
1
Forest Hills
111-39 76 Road
$315,000
Studio |
1
Rego Park
99-72 66 Road
$565,000
3 |
1.5
Jackson Heights
85-10 34th Avenue
$300,000
1 |
1
South Jamaica
140-18 Rockaway Boulevard
$999,000
3 |
2.5
Jackson Heights
34-21 78th Street
$375,000
2 |
1
Forest Hills
102-10 66 Road
$359,000
1 |
1
Astoria
31-19 29th Street
$735,000
1 |
1
South Ozone Park
114-46 Sutter Avenue
$899,000
3 |
2
Astoria
21-50 33 Road
$385,000
1 |
1
For the New York foodie
New Yorkers love — no, adore — their bagels and lox, and you can fuel their affair with a Russ & Daughters gift basket. The beloved Lower East Side institution first opened its doors in 1914, and has been wooing locals with perfect bagels and fresh fish ever since. Show your friends and family that you know good New York bagels when you see them.
If you have another spot in mind for the foodie on your list, Goldbelly offers a variety of specialties from legendary NYC purveyors like Barney Greengrass, Levain Bakery, John’s of Bleecker Street, Gramercy Tavern, and more. They deliver nationwide, so you can gift a little taste of New York to your loved ones even if they don’t call it home!