BY VICKI GILHULA
North Americans have a romanticized view of New York City at Christmas, thanks to movies such as Miracle on 34th Street and Home Alone, and hundreds of television specials over the years from the media capital of the world.
And Manhattan lives up to its reputation. From American
Thanksgiving to New Year's, it is a great place to be for
sight-seeing, shopping and entertainment.
I have come to enjoy my trips to New York City by train.
Amtrack leaves Toronto's Union Station shortly after 7 am daily
and arrives at Pennsylvania Station about 12 hours later. This
is a chance to rest up and plan for the busy days ahead. I pack
a couple of sandwiches and a book or two for the trip.
The cost of a round trip train ticket is less than the return
trip by bus from Sudbury to Toronto. And you get a nice tour of
western New York State as a bonus.
Once in the Big Apple, there's plenty to do. First, you will
want to get tickets to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular
with the Rockettes. Tickets can be purchased online or by
phoning (212) 307-1000.
I think the grandfathers in the crowd enjoyed the show more
than the children.The highlight is the Rockettes' Parade of the
Wooden Soldiers. The grand finale is the Living Nativity
with a large cast and live camels. I've seen the show three
times and still love it.
Prime tickets can sell for as much as $250 (US), so don't be
afraid to get cheap seats (about $40). You'll still get a great
view up there in the nosebleed section.
Radio City Music Hall, which has been lovingly restored, is
part of Rockefeller Center and neighbour to NBC radio and
television headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
It's free to walk through the main floor of the NBC building
(now the General Electric building) , and enjoy its 1930s art
deco architecture opulence. Tours of NBC studios are available.
The tour highlights can include visits to the studios of NBC
Nightly News, NBC Sports, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and
Saturday Night Live.
(There is great shopping at the NBC store.)
The Today Show studios are located in a storefront studio on
the plaza, so you can watch the show live if you go early in
the morning.
Rockefeller Plaza is a great place to people watch. Don't be
surprised if you see a celebrity or two.
After American Thanksgiving, there is the annual lighting
ceremony/concert for the huge Christmas tree at Rockefeller
Plaza, which is decorated to the nines.
The tree has 30,000 lights. The lighting ceremony will take
place this year Nov. 29 from 7 to 9 pm. This is usually
televised on NBC (Cable Channel 20).
For a once in a lifetime experience, have a drink in the
famous Rainbow Room bar on the 65th floor. The drinks are
expensive, but the view of the city is free.
If you are hungry, you can have a meal at Rock Centre Cafe,
which offers views of the famed Prometheus sculpture and
outdoor rink.
Or you can buy a frank and a soda (that's American for hot dog
and pop) from a street vendor and watch the figure skating. Or
better yet, you can rent skates and take a spin in the most
famous urban skating rink in the world.
A guided Christmas Walking Tour of Rockefeller Center and 5th
Avenue is available for a very reasonable price of $15 (US).
Phone 877-NYC-TRIP.
Joyce Gold (
[email protected]
) also offers walking tours of New York City which are priced
at $12 (US). I took one of her tours of Central Park this
spring and recommend her highly. In December Gold is offering
tours of Greenwich Village, the Old Jewish Lower East Side, and
Grand Central Station.
Across the street from Rockefeller Plaza on Fifth Ave. are two
places that must be visited the beautiful and historic St.
Patrick's Cathedral and Saks Fifth Avenue.
From Rockefeller Plaza, you can easily walk past the Plaza
Hotel ( which appears in mamy movies) and on to Central Park
and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The window shopping along
the way is great.
Beginning Nov. 21, the museum's annual Christmas tree and
Neapolitan Baroque crèche are on display in the Medieval
Sculpture Hall. The museum's shop is a fabulous place to shop
for unique gifts.
Department stores Saks, Bergdorf Goodman, Macy's, Lord and
Taylor, and Barney's have fantasy Christmas windows for the
holiday season. And it doesn't cost a penny to look.
One cannot visit New York without a trip to Macy's at Herald
Square and Broadway. This used to be the world's biggest
department store. And it has kept much of its 1940s charm. (The
back escalators with wooden grates are the originals.). The
store has the largest display of Christmas decorations I
have ever seen.
Santaland is on the eighth floor and its free. There was no
lineup when I visited early in the morning on a weekday, but
during peak times the visit to see Santa can be 45 minutes.
Macy's Christmas windows are truly spectacular. One year they
told the story of Miracle of 34th Street. Another year, they
depicted highlights of Thanksgiving Parades over the years.
More recently, they had "pop-up" views of the city.
My favnourite place to visit is the Museum of New York City at
1220 Fifth Ave. It is an unpretentious place, and there is
always an interesting special exhibit or two. There is a
antique toy museum on the second floor with wonderful Victorian
doll houses donated by the rich and famous.
The current special exhibit is called Willing to Be Lucky:
Ambitious New Yorkers in the Pages of Look Magazine (to Jan 3.)
The early photography work of Stanley Kubrick is featured.
The last time I visited New York City in December, there was a
huge (by big city standards) snowstorm the day before we were
scheduled to leave.
The day was spent exploring all nine floors of Macy's. The next
day, flights out of the city were cancelled, but the train left
on time from Pennsylvania Station preciously at 7 am. I
was back in Toronto in time for dinner.
Vicki Gilhula is the managing editor of Northern Life.
