If there’s one US city that sums up the romance of Christmas, it’s New York City.
IN ADDITION TO THE GIANT CHRISTMAS TREE AND ICE SKATING RINK at Rockefeller Center, the flamboyant Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade and the high-kicking Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, there’s a plethora of films using the Big Apple as a bedazzling holiday backdrop, from Miracle on 34th Street, Trading Places and When Sally Met Harry to Serendipity and Home Alone 2.
What you get at Christmas is the full razzmatazz of the Big Apple plus, if you’re lucky, that fluffy white stuff … what could be more romantic than Central Park or Brooklyn Bridge with a magical dusting of snow?
New York’s Christmas season kicks off in November with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade followed the next day by Black Friday, the mother of all sales. The following Wednesday sees the lighting of the giant Norwegian spruce Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. Meanwhile, Macy’s, Barney’s, Tiffany, Bloomingdales and Bergdorf Goodman vie among themselves with Oscar-worthy window displays.
When the mercury slides down towards zero, it’s time to strap on the blades and hit the ice rinks. The best-known is at Rockefeller Center, under the shadow of the Christmas tree and the vast golden statue of Prometheus, but there are more dotted around the city. Central Park has a large rink close to the 59th Street entrances on 5th Avenue and Bryant Park has a free outdoor rink. If you fancy a trip out to the ’hoods, Brooklyn’s glorious Frederick Law Olmsted-designed Prospect Park has a new indoor rink.
It can be bitterly cold in the Manhattan canyons but you can recharge with a steaming cup of hot chocolate. Among places offering the best are the City Bakery on West 18th Street and MarieBelle on SoHo’s Broome Street , which hosts a chocolate festival every February. Add to the experience by visiting one of the dessert food trucks found around the city.
Nothing could be more reassuring to a Brit than Christmas lunch with all the trimmings. However, Americans don’t do a traditional Christmas lunch, preferring their stuffed turkeys at Thanksgiving, while, perhaps, opting for a Chinese meal on Christmas Day. So check out some of the hotels, such as the historic Plaza, which usually put on a Christmas lunch, or some of the British pubs that proliferate in Manhattan … many serve a Sunday roast most weekends.
Christmas is a really opportune time for shoppers as the Black Friday sales continue into the New Year. My first port of call is always Bloomingdales on 59th Street and Lexington Avenue (there is a second, smaller Bloomies downtown in SoHo on Broadway). Make sure you pick up an overseas visitor card (offering 10 per cent discounts) at the store’s customer service desk (some hotel concierges even hold 15 and 20 per cent discount coupons for their guests).
Hotel rates are expensive the first half of December but drop dramatically as Christmas approaches and continue through January and February (except over New Year, when the city stages spectacular fireworks displays). You can’t beat Hotel Beacon on Broadway at West 75th Street for value combined with quality. Located in a great Westside neighbourhood full of local colour, it’s just three blocks from Central Park to the east, two blocks from Riverside Park and the Hudson River to the west, and on an express subway line that whisks you to the Times Square neon wonderland in about seven minutes. Every room has a kitchenette – particularly useful for families on a budget – and the superb Fairway supermarket is right across the street.
So, as John Lennon sang, “This is Christmas. I hope you have fun.”!
