NYC Sites: Christmas In New York City

New York City knows how to celebrate holidays. One of the great, perhaps unintended, consequences of the commercialization of Christmas when you live in the consumer capital of the USA (and world) is that stores go ALL OUT to decorate. As a result, everywhere you go in the city is decked out with Christmas stuff. There is Radio City Music Hall, with its big tree of lights caddy corner to 6th avenue and across the street from some giant red Christmas balls adorning the front of another office.

There is the giant Christmas tree in the MetLife building that is attached to Grand Central Terminal. If you are IN Grand Central there is a really cool light display all day long in the grand waiting gallery. There is also a giant Christmas Tree shaped light fixture that scales the front of the Macy's building, made famous for the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade.

And of course, perhaps most famous, is the giant Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Plaza. This tree is HUGE. I visited the sight the day before the actual "lighting" of the tree - it was gorgeous (and not crowded, so I was able to get really close to it!) Apparently, Britney Spears would be performing on the NBC Today show the next morning, so I saw her, also, doing a sound check for the cameras that were getting all set-up for the grand festivities to follow the next day.

BONUS STORY:
The story that follows is a TRUE story that is perhaps one of my best EVER!! This is the story of how I saw the lighting of the tree at Rockefeller Plaza, despite being told that the area was full and there was "not a chance" of seeing it lit.

After work on Wednesday, I arrived home around 7pm. The tree gets lit around 9pm and I was debating whether I would actually go to see it. I figured it would be full and I wouldn't be able to see, but around 730pm I decided to go for it. The tree lights up at 855pm. God must have wanted me to make it because I caught my train immediately and the Express was waiting for me a few stops later! I got to 5th Ave and 53rd St around 815pm. I needed to be at 50th Street, but the Police had blocked off the area because it was full. They were telling people to just come back the next day to see the tree. Being a stubborn individual, I was not deterred. I waited by the barricade because I noticed that people with ID badges for the buildings nearby were being let through. As God would have it, a big group showed up and I basically just entered through with them. Come to find out, they were heading to the building directly next to the Plaza - the one across from St. Patrick's Cathedral with a big dude holding the world in front. I entered into the building with them, also! They went to the 5th Floor, to a brokerage firm that was having a Tree Lighting Holiday Party!! They had enough food and drink to feed a small state like Delaware. And best of all - they had an unobstructed, front row seat, full on view of the tree!!

POINT OF STORY: I got to see the tree lighting for the first time in my life - with front row seats, good food, a glass of wine, and lots of merry people who weren't freezing or all up on you (like the people outside at ground level were!) And it was dazzling. Indeed, the tree itself is just a big tree with lots of lights - not a big deal. But being there for the moment it lights up sent goose bumps up and down my body.

A must see (at least once in your life) when visiting New York City. And an amazing way to start the Christmas season!