We, of course, would not be New Yorkers if they were not part of the holiday celebrations. But there are some that are not that well known or that are a bit out of the way. My friend Victor came up to the city and we actually walked in 22F weather checking out some of the sites that make NYC be what it is. So I thought I would share with you what NY was like 5 days before Christmas.Our first stop was the The Bloomberg Building on Lexington Avenue. We all have heard and seen the tree in Rockefeller Center. It is the traditional staple of the winter holidays here in NYC. They have set up a tree that is breathtaking. This is the first time that I have seen this tree up.
There is one just as impressive on Wall Street which I promise to get a picture of and I am sure that there may be one or two more around the city which merit mentioning. Vic and I were lucky that while taking the pic, twin sisters came up to us and offered to take our pic. It was nice and the holiday spirit was palpable in the city. So we
walked west and we saw that the Bloomingdale's building was lit up as well. Bloomingdales is as much iconic as is Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor, Bergdoff & Goodman and the greatest of them all, Macy's. While I did not stop to take pictures of their window display, it was impressive to see how their visual coordinators lit the facade of the building. So I figured it was worth a picture and I hope you would think so too.
I can't even begin to imagine the number of hours it took to drape the lights along the facade of the building and the best part of it all is that it is perfectly symmetrical. I was impressed. When we were done, we decided to walk west.One of the lesser known classics is that Park Avenue is lit up with trees and lights all along the wide avenue. People oooh and ahhh when the see it but it is not one of the better known sites. I think it is a shame because it is so beautiful and sets the tone through out the city. I could not resist and again took a picture of it for you to appreciate.
One the things that impresses me is that this decoration runs all along Park Avenue as long as there are malls in the middle of the route. My sense is that ends when the Metro North comes out of the tunnel on 96 street. Its just nice to walk along it. Our next stop was the former New York Plaza Hotel. This building was considered the grand dame of our hotels until it went condos four years ago. They decorated the fountain and it was fun to get our pics taken there. 
It was a fun site to get our pics taken and there were many out of towners who thought alike. What made it more fun was the fact that there were Santas all over the place and people wanted their pis taken with them. 
I chose to pass on sitting on Santa's lap. Not my thing, thank you very much LOL. But the kids loved it. We crossed the street and as we passed Bergdoff & Goodman's was really surprised with the window displays. I want to post them here so you can see how wonderfully detailed they are, full of fantasy and wonderful images.
One the things that struck me most about these displays are the varying themes of each window which in some manner or another is tied to the winter with its focus on white and light, ice blue hues. Magnificent work!
When I looked at these displays, I just wondered what would inspire someone to design such magical presentations. Tourists stood and took in all the details of each display. The beauty of it is that because Winter holidays was the theme, while all were white, the details and themes were amazing.
We walked down Fifth Avenue and some of the classics in NYC include the crystal snow flake that is above Fifth Ave and 57th Street. It is as symbolic of the holidays of NYC as is the Tree in Rock Center. This year it was Crystal and lights which made the ornament shine from high above. (See picture below)
It was wickedly cold (22F), windy and with snow flurries. Still we made our way down Fifth Ave and caught the Cartier and Versace Buildings, Trump Tower and St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Cartier Building traditionally had a huge ribbon on it and this year its all lights. The Versace building has new flood lights and the Trump Tower gave up the boring lights of always and looked liked it was wrapped in colorful holiday paper. Of course, St. Patrick's reigned like a castle in the Avenue. It was great.
Rockefeller Center was next. It was packed! The Snowflake Light display on the facade of Saks Fifth Avenue will blink along to Christmas classics. The angels were laid out in the Rockefeller Promenade. Satin flags waved in the winds and huge wooden soldiers graced the perimeters of the rink.
Finally, as we made our way to the end of our adventure, we headed to the Avenue of the Americas (AKA Sixth Avenue) to capture more classics--Radio City Music Hall, The Giant Christmas Ornaments in front of the Time Life Building and the Lit Tree Plaza in front of McMillian Publishing...
Wonderful sites that I hope you all can visit!
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