Why I Love Christmas in New York

Back in Ann Arbor, Michigan, right after I got out of college, I met Cynthia, who would become a lifelong friend, at the newspaper where we both worked.

Cynthia was a real New Yorker, born and raised in Manhattan, and she could hardly believe I’d never been to the city at Christmastime. “It’s the most gorgeous place in the world,” she said. “The windows at Lord and Taylor, the Rockefeller Center tree. You have to see it.”

I’ve seen about 25 Christmas seasons in New York by now, and I still get a thrill out of it. From Thanksgiving to New Year’s, it is a metropolis enchanted by Christmas, visually and in spirit. Here are just a few of the things I love:

• Those ultimate urban emblems, fire escapes, decorated with twinkly lights
• The big red bow on the front of a subway train and the tinsel decorating the ticket booth
• The top of the Empire State Building, as glimpsed from my apartment, lit up in green and red (and blue and white on Hanukkah)
• The Middle Eastern-tinged holiday music played by Coptic Christians who work at the Korean grocery on my corner
• The sharp smell of pine as you pass by the sidewalk Christmas tree vendors
• Koreatown in the West 30s, especially the stylized crèche in the window of a storefront church, one floor above a barbecue restaurant and karaoke bar
• Dogs of all breeds decked out in their Christmas finery
• The origami tree at the Museum of Natural History
• Vintage Christmas cards at the Sixth Avenue flea market
• The Byzantine hymns flowing from the Eastern Orthodox church around the corner
• A couple kissing at the Rockefeller Center rink while other skaters swirl around them
• The laser light show on the celestial ceiling of Grand Central Terminal (especially if you’re having a burger at Michael Jordan’s)
• Hot pretzels (okay, they’re year ’round but I love them at Christmas)
• Kwanzaa incense wafting above the street merchants in the East Village
• The hot chocolate at Serendipity on the Upper East Side
• The wreath-wearing lions guarding the entrance of the New York Public Library (I once saw a play where the lions come to life and chase people down Fifth Avenue)
• Everyone swinging a holiday shopping bag
• Cops on horseback on New Year’s Eve
• Julee and Millie peacefully asleep on the couch before the ball drops at Times Square

My friend Cynthia was right. Christmas here is magical. What are your favorite signs of Christmas in the city?

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Edward Grinnan is Editor-in-Chief and Vice President of GUIDEPOSTS Publications.