Holiday splendor of New York
By Dan Kois
Special to The Advertiser
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In winter, the bustle and crush of New York City occasionally falls silent as the first flakes of snow drift between the skyscrapers. By the next morning, the snow is gray slush and the city is loud, wet and angry again. But those few hours of peace are treasured by New Yorkers.
For most visitors during the holiday season, winter in Manhattan is anything but peaceful. Thousands upon thousands of tourists visit New York and jam the sidewalks to see the same old sights: the windows at Macy's, the tree at Rockefeller Center, the Rockettes.
But there's more to winter in New York than these tired (and crowded) holiday cliches.
SKIP ROCK CENTER
Rockefeller Center (Fifth Avenue and 49th Street) and its mammoth Christmas tree are lovely, decked out in holiday finery, offering ice skating and holiday music. But the crush on December evenings can be downright scary. The line for skating takes at least an hour to navigate, and a cup of hot chocolate can be prohibitively expensive if you can even find one. "The crowds were insane and inescapable," said New Yorker Jen MacNeil, describing her attempts to bring an out-of-town friend to see the Rock Center festivities. "By the time we got within sight of the tree, we were so exhausted from battling the crowds that we decided to leave."
There are alternatives.
If it's over-the-top Christmas decorations you're after, hop the B or R trains to Far Outer Brooklyn. There, in Dyker Heights (84th Street between 10th and 12th Avenues), you'll find a neighborhood that, by mid-December, is in the throes of a rapidly escalating decoration war. The Italian-American residents of Dyker Heights go to outlandishly festive lengths, spending thousands of dollars on bulbs, 30-foot plastic Santas, and professional lighting designers; evenings in December the neighborhood is lit up like daylight. "They had a life-size wax figure reenactment of 'A Christmas Carol,' and more animatronic animals than Disney World," said Brooklyn resident Ehren Gresehover, who visited the neighborhood last Christmas. "It's ostentatious and tacky, but the families and kids are so enthusiastic that it's easy to even enjoy it unironically."
For information on the Dyker Heights lights,www.dykerheights .com.
For holiday finery you can see without leaving town, check out the light show inside the main concourse of majestic Grand Central Terminal (42nd Street and Park Avenue), displayed every half hour from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. through December. The festive lights play out against the restored astronomical ceiling of the station, originally painted in 1912 by Paul Cesar Helleu and scrubbed clean in 1999; a small dirty patch left near Michael Jordan's Steakhouse is testament to the damage done to the ceiling by decades of cigarette smoke. While you're in the Terminal, stop by the festive (but crowded) Holiday Market, where craftsmen and importers sell handmade gifts and tasty treats.
For a more peaceful ice-skating experience than that at Rock Center, try Wollman Rink in Central Park (at 59th Street; (212) 439-6900). The park's winter oasis is where New Yorkers go to skate, and you'll find the natural beauty surrounding you snow-decked trees, rocky hills, the occasional Canada goose lagging behind its flockmates far more meaningful than Rock Center's hustle and bustle. From the rink, walk through the park to the Central Park Zoo (at 64th Street; (212) 439-6500), where, on weekends in December, you can watch the polar bears, snow monkeys, red pandas and penguins receive holiday treats such as frozen "fish-sicles."
DOWNTOWN AND UPTOWN
In general, Midtown 34th Street to 59th Street is a zoo throughout December. But Manhattan is a big island, and there's a lot to see elsewhere.
"Inwood Hill Park is a native, fairly untouched Manhattan forest," said Bill Schmidt, a community associate for New York City Parks. "So it's Manhattan's last link to the island as it used to be hundreds of years ago." On snowy days, the hills in Inwood Hill Park offer some of the city's best sledding, and owls can easily be spotted in the surrounding forest.
ARTS IN BROOKLYN
Intrigued by contemporary art but scared of the numberless stark, intimidating galleries in Chelsea and SoHo? Head across the East River to Williamsburg, an up-and-coming Brooklyn neighborhood, and visit Pierogi 2000 (177 N. 9th St.; (718) 599-2144). This user-friendly gallery offers a survey of the New York contemporary art scene, with no pressure to buy.
Pierogi's approach is unique and refreshingly hands-on; visitors are encouraged to pull on dust-free gloves and browse through the dozens of file cabinets holding the work of more than 700 artists. If you see something you like, you can look up its price on a nearby computer terminal. And the price is right; splashy, fanciful works by rising young artists can be had at Pierogi for prices in the low three figures, a steal in the gallery world. An afternoon spent browsing through Pierogi's files can be as illuminating and entertaining as an afternoon at the Guggenheim.
And Pierogi isn't the only gallery in this thriving neighborhood. "There are 35 to 40 art galleries in Williamsburg now," says Pierogi manager Summer Guthery. "We're the most established, but there are a lot of wonderful alternative and community spaces around here too. A neighborhood like Chelsea is a lot more formal, with a lot more money, while Williamsburg is more creative everyone here is either an artist or a musician or a designer or something like that." Williamsburg feels much like SoHo 20 years ago: on the cusp, but not yet overrun.
After Pierogi, wander Bedford Street, the main drag of hipster Williamsburg, window-shopping for trucker hats and asymmetrical clothing. Stop by Artists & Fleas (129 N. 6th St.), a hip indoor market selling antiques, handmade clothing, gourmet food and more. A live DJ spins tracks at the market, open Saturdays and Sundays from noon until 8 p.m.
You can finish your night with a beer and a show at Northsix (66 N. 6th St.; (718) 599-5103), where great indie-rock bands of the type that rarely get to the Islands rock out nightly. Bands to play Northsix recently include Magnolia Electric Company, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Kid Koala, We Are Scientists and The Sword.
HARK THE SOUNDS
New York offers holiday-themed musical events of all stripes.
The Cathedral Choristers offer their annual Christmas concert at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (1047 Amsterdam Ave.; (212) 316-7490) on Dec. 10. Expertly sung and arranged, the show is "quite eerie and haunting," says New York TV writer and blogger Ian Williams. With the music echoing under the high vaulted roof of the cathedral, "it almost feels like an ancient experience."
St. Patrick's Cathedral (480 Madison Ave.; (212) 753-2261) is the home of the jolly "A City Singing at Christmas" concert on Dec. 14, in which the audience gets to join with the Cathedral Choir and the Young People's Chorus of New York. It's festive (and free).
Other concerts: the Canadian Brass with the New York Philharmonic's Brass Quintet, at Lincoln Center (132 W. 65th St.; (212) 875-5350) on Dec. 10, or the New York City Gay Men's Chorus Holiday Spectacular, at Carnegie Hall (154 W. 57th St.; (212) 247-7800) on Dec. 11. Carnegie Hall also hosts the Musica Sacra Chorus and Orchestra in Handel's "Messiah," Dec. 22.
Cabaret fans shouldn't miss legend Andrea Marcovicci's intimate show at Symphony Space (2537 Broadway; (212) 864-5400), "My Christmas Song for You," on Dec. 18. And the musical theater pop collective Groovelily presents its endearing, offbeat New Year's-themed show, "Striking 12," at the Daryl Roth Theater (101 E. 15th St.; (212) 239-6200) through December.
Holiday music doesn't just mean Christmas carols. The Museum of Jewish Heritage (36 Battery Place; (646) 437-4202) presents the delightfully named "Challah-lujah," a gospel Hanukkah celebration starring Joshua Nelson and His Kosher Gospel Choir, on Dec. 25.
For those in your group interested in a holiday celebration well off the beaten path, join ambient composer Phil Kline's "Unsilent Night," an avant-garde musical processional through the streets of Greenwich Village. Every year since 1992, Kline has organized hundreds of revelers carrying boomboxes, each of which plays a fragment of Kline's holiday composition. The resultant joyful noise travels along with the group in an informal hour-long parade from Washington Square Park to Tompkins Square Park. Last year's processional featured more than 1,000 celebrants and hundreds of boomboxes.
Philip Winn, an architect who lives in Brooklyn, says the event is everything he loves about New York City. "It's constantly shifting, slightly illegal, full of chance and surprises, and can only be created and experienced with a group of friends and strangers." The date this year is Dec. 16. Meet under the arch in Washington Square Park, 5th Avenue and Washington Square North at 6:45 p.m. Information: www.philkline.com.
POST-HOLIDAY TRAVELS
If you can't travel during the holidays, January and February, traditional lulls in the tourist season, are terrific times to visit New York. Airfare and accommodations are cheaper; you're more likely to experience that eerie silence of snow in the city, and popular attractions are less mobbed.
The first two months of the year are the slow period on and off Broadway; often, tickets are available for shows in January that you could never hope to see just one month before, from "A Chorus Line" to "Wicked." Promising shows off Broadway this winter include: Bathsheba Doran's all-ages staging of Dickens' "Great Expectations" at Theatreworks/USA; Tom Stoppard's starry three-part epic "The Coast of Utopia," running at Lincoln Center all winter and starring Ethan Hawke and Robert Sean Leonard; and "In the Heights," a lively musical set in New York's Hispanic community, reminiscent of "West Side Story," beginning performances at 37 Arts in January.
For cheap tickets up to half off visit the TKTS booth in Times Square. Currently located on West 46th St. between Broadway and 8th Avenue while its long-standing home in Father Duffy Square is renovated, the TKTS booth opens at 3 p.m. most days, selling same-day tickets to 8 p.m. shows. Wednesdays and Saturdays, the booth also opens at 10 in the morning for same-day matinees.
To avoid the lines, try the much less-attended South Street Seaport branch of TKTS at the corner of Front and John Streets downtown, which opens at 11 every morning. Bring cash or traveler's checks; TKTS does not take credit cards. Information: www.tdf.org/tkts.
Visitors in January can also check out the glamorous Winter Antiques Show at the Armory (67th Street and Park Avenue; (718) 292-7392). You probably won't buy anything, but the work on display, from dozens of worldwide exhibitors, is well worth the $20 admission like a decorative arts museum crossed with the most expensive yard sale you've ever seen.
Check out the New York Comic-Con, a mammoth convention of comic book and animation fans, at the Javits Convention Center (655 W. 34th St.) Feb. 23-25. Drawing the biggest names in comics, the Comic-Con is quickly becoming a competitor to its more famous cousin in San Diego. Come for the manga, stay for the cosplay. Information: www.nycomiccon.com.
Finally, culinary adventurers have a great reason to come to New York after the holidays: for New York's Winter Restaurant Week, when scores of top restaurants offer $24 prix-fixe lunches and $35 prix-fixe dinners. Make your reservations now. This is your chance to sample the best cuisine New York has to offer. This year, Winter Restaurant Week is Jan. 22 to Feb. 2 (not including the weekend). Information: www.nycvisit.com/RestaurantWeek Search/.
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IF YOU GO ...GETTING THERE: Continental's nonstop flights from Honolulu to Newark Airport, in New Jersey, are the fastest, most convenient way to get from the Islands to New York City. Inexpensive trains can take you straight from Newark Airport to Manhattan's Penn Station. And it's much easier to get from the Newark Airport to Midtown Manhattan inexpensively than it is to get from LaGuardia Airport or JFK Airports, both of which require cabs, buses or long, complicated train rides. GUIDES: Pick up three items no New Yorker can do without at the airport gift shop: a Zagat's restaurant guide, a Streetwise Manhattan map and the most recent Time Out New York (TONY) magazine. Streetwises — small, easily folded maps — combine detailed geographical info with subway stops and transit details. TONY is a detailed and accurate collection of the week's events, handily separated into categories and exhaustively researched. The magazine's Web site is pretty useful as well: www.timeoutny.com. A decent guide for visitors is the cheekily named "Not For Tourists Guide: New York," which offers candid assessments of restaurants, hotels and sights; www.notfortourists.com/newyork.aspx. While you're online, check out Gothamist.com, a gossip and events website that covers New York with a local's eye. And the city's official tourism site, www.nycvisit.com, is a little boosterish but often very useful. WHERE TO STAY: Stay with a friend if you can or expect to spend in excess of $250 a night. If you're looking for a more relaxing (and more expensive) alternative, look for boutique hotels outside of the crowded, tourist-packed Midtown area. HotelChatter.com is a great portal to find reviews of hip spots like THOR (The Hotel On Rivington) on the Lower East Side, and 60 Thompson in SoHo. Beware, though: even for hundreds of dollars, you'll be walking into a room smaller than your living room at home. GETTING AROUND: The New York City subway system is safe, fairly reliable, extensive and affordable at $2 per ride. Buy a 7-Day Unlimited Ride pass for $24; www.mta.info. You can hail New York City cabs most anywhere in Manhattan, but remember that cabs become dramatically less useful during rush hour (when traffic is heavy) or in inclement weather (when cabs are scarce). Fares start at $2.50 and increase by the block. A ride from Midtown to Greenwich Village averages about $8; from Williamsburg in Brooklyn to Midtown might cost about $15. From LaGuardia Airport to Midtown runs about $20, and trips from JFK Airport to anywhere in Manhattan cost a flat fare of $45. Information: www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/html/ passenger/taxicab_rate.shtml. WHERE TO EAT: Pick up a Zagat's Guide; this little red book is the dining Bible for New York City; you can't go wrong if you pick a restaurant at random from among the high scorers. Midtown's most tourist-heavy neighborhoods are filled with notoriously tacky and overpriced restaurants. Here are some eateries that will give you a real taste of the world elbow-to-elbow with New Yorkers. For the best (and most family-friendly) brunch in the city, take an early-morning trek to TriBeCa for Bubby's Pie Company, 120 Hudson St; (212) 219-0666. The tiny West Village restaurant Casa, 72 Bedford St., (212) 366-9410, offers delicious Brazilian food in a romantic but unfussy setting. For a more lively South American experience, try Azul, 152 Stanton St., (877) 482-6755, a crowded, tango-inflected Argentinean bistro on the Lower East Side that serves some of the best steaks in the city. Fromage lovers should check out Artisanal, 2 Park Avenue; (212) 725-8585, chef Terrance Brennan's church of cheese. Start with GruyEre puffs, try five different kinds of fondue and finish, naturally, with a cheese plate, brandished by the house's cheese experts the way sommeliers deliver wine. Of course, most New Yorkers eat their cheese melted atop tomato sauce and crust. While John's in Times Square, 260 W. 44th St., (212) 391-7560, is dramatic, with its renovated church interior, and delicious, with classic thin-crust New York pizza, the crowds can be a bit much. The going is sometimes easier at the restaurant's downtown location, 278 Bleecker St., (212) 243-1680. And if you've got a hankering for an Italian dining experience, steer clear of Manhattan's Little Italy, with its overpriced meatballs and kitschy sidewalk stalls. Instead, spring for a cab to the Bronx's Arthur Avenue, "the real Little Italy," where restaurants such as Roberto's, 632 Crescent Ave., (718) 733-9503, serve the best pasta you'll find outside of Rome. On those winter afternoons when the wind gets a little too cold, your feet hurt and you're getting a traveler's headache, drop in at City Bakery, 3 W. 18th St., (888) 787-3208, for coffee, cookies and the best hot chocolate on earth: as thick as a melted chocolate bar, with a huge housemade marshmallow on top. Order one for the table; you still won't be able to finish it. |
