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| Rockefeller Center, New York City Courtesy of NYC & Company - Dan Perrotti |
The Big Apple is known for doing things bigger, better, and brighter, and the holidays are no exception, what with the city’s wondrous window displays, holiday concerts and events, bustling holiday markets, ice-skating rinks, chestnut-roasting street vendors, and seemingly endless street-to-street stream of shining holiday lights.
While you can hardly turn the corner without glimpsing a generous glimmer, some illuminations are simply not to be missed: Start with Rockefeller Center’s iconic towering tree, set aglow with some 30,000 bulbs that glisten down upon the ice-skating rink, bugling lit-up angels, and wide-eyed tourists through early January (lit November 30; free; www.rockefellercenter.com). Tree-lighting fixes (all free) abound – try the South Street Seaport (lit November 25; www.southstreetseaport.com), Lincoln Center (lit November 28, www.winterseve.org), Washington Square Park (lit December 7; www.washingtonsquarenyc.org), Bryant Park (lit November 29; www.bryantpark.org), or the Metropolitan Museum of Art (lit November 29; www.metmuseum.org); or, catch the lighting of the world’s largest Chanukah menorah – at 32-feet high and 4,000 pounds – on the southeastern corner of Central Park on December 20. Other highlights include downtown’s wonderful Winter Garden, where 45-foot-tall palm trees are offset by 100,000 white lights (lit November 29–January 8; free; www.artsworldfinancialcenter.com) and the dangling dozen of illuminated 14-foot stars at the Time Warner Center (now–January 3; free; www.shopsatcolumbuscircle.com).
Look to the city’s outer boroughs, too, for unique takes on holiday lights: We especially like the ostentatiously decorated homes (expect larger-than-life motorized displays, inflatable decorations, and a gargantuan gaggle of glaring lights) in Brooklyn’s Italian-American neighborhood of Dyker Heights (free). Overwhelmed on where to start? Sign up for an organized tour: CitySights NY offers 2.5-hour “Lights of the Holidays” tours of Manhattan (runs November 28–December 30, except Christmas; $44 adults, $34 kids ages 5 to 11; www.citysightsny.com), while A Slice of Brooklyn offers a Brooklyn-based “Christmas Lights and Cannoli Tour,” on select dates in December ($55 adults; $45 children under 12; www.asliceofbrooklyn.com).
