Christmas in New York City

 I have been very busy doing the final packing for our move in the new year, but I have also been taking time to enjoy the sights around Manhattan, as it will be my last Christmas season here for a few years.  This will be a photo-rich blog post because there is so much to show about Christmas in New York City!

There are decorations everywhere...

...and many beautiful Christmas trees all over the city. This one is in front of the New York Stock Exchange, and it is always one of my favorite trees to see.

Even the main branch of the New York Public Library, located on Fifth Ave and 42 Street, has a tree in its lobby! If you visit New York City, be sure to visit this magnificent Beaux Arts building that was completed in 1911. With nearly 53 million items, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States, behind only the Library of Congress.  There are plans to enlarge and renovate portions of the library, which you can read about on this link.

The two lion statues outside this library have been nicknamed "Patience" and "Fortitude," and when I visited recently there were amazing sculptures of both lions in the lobby that were entirely made out of Lego blocks! They were the work of Nathan Sawaya. You can click on this photo, and all photos in this post, to enlarge them -- re-click on it again when it re-opens and use your browser back arrow to return to my post.

Bryant Park has a big beautiful Christmas tree, free ice skating and presently many wonderful holiday shops selling a large array of unique gifts and delicious sweets.

Grand Central Station turned 100 years old this year and it also has a holiday fair going on right now with 68 shops selling high-end artisan quality gift items.

The Plaza Hotel has its second annual Christmas tree, and this one honors one of its famous patrons from the past, the author F. Scott Fritzgerald, with a "Great Gatsby" themed tree, designed by Academy Award winner, Catherine Martin.

There is the fabulous Plaza Food Hall by Todd English located at the concourse level. It offers a diverse range of quality specialty foods and prepared dishes for take away or to enjoy in one of eight seating areas, including: Wine Bar, Cheese & Charcuterie Station, Sushi Bar, Burger Bar & Rotisserie, Asian Noodle and Dumpling Bar, Espresso & Tea Bar, Brick Oven Pizza, and a Fish and Seafood Grill.  The three little girls in the photo, that were dressed so beautifully, were choosing what cookies they wanted to buy. They reminded me of the popular children's book by Kay Thompson of Eloise at the Plaza. The Plaza offers quite a spectacular Eloise experience!

Many of the New York City department store windows have magical displays this time of the year. Did you see my visit to the Macy's Santaland Santa Claus on this link?

These were some of the windows of Saks Fifth Avenue Department Store. Directly across the street from Saks is Rockefeller Center...

...where you get a glimpse of the annual Rockefeller Christmas tree! This years' tree came from Mount Olive, New Jersey.

The Rockefeller Center tree is decorated with more than 30,000 multi-colored, energy-efficient LED lights, and crowned by a Swarovski star.

This is how it looks lit up at night.

Some more nighttime views.

I took this video, not realizing that when I turned my Flip camera on its side to get a full view of the tree, it would appear sideways on the video! Whoops! I'm posting it anyway so you can see how pretty the tree looks when the lights shimmer.

The Baccarat UNICEF Snowflake hangs over 5th Ave at 57th Street.

 It reminds me of a star, a star that shined very brightly in the sky 2012 years ago!

The Nativity creche in St. Patrick's Cathedral -- baby Jesus will be laid in the manger during.Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. In this busy season may we remember the true meaning of Christmas -- the miracle of Jesus' humble birth and His gift of our salvation.

A very Merry and Blessed Christmas to one and all! 

Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men!