NYC window Christmas displays?

Parent Cafe
1

We were thinking of going to NYC this December to see the Christmas window displays in the store windows on 5th Ave and elsewhere. And of course a Broadway show and nice dinners !

The weekend that would work out for us would be the weekend of December 9th/10th. Are the window displays at at that time?

Any other tips to pass along?

Thanks in advance!

2

Window displays are all up by the time the Rockefeller Center tree is up. Definitely by the 9th of Dec

3

I think they go up shortly before Thanksgiving. It’s a real zoo on weekends going past them - but that’s part of the fun of NYC.

4

Lord and Taylor display is already up. It opened on Thu. Most definitely by Dec 9th everything would be up. I would start at 57th and walk down. Saks is usually my favorite and Rockefeller Center will be just gorgeous. My favorite time to walk down Fifth is later at night when the streets are quieter, so after dinner or a show.

5

Be sure to check out the Barney’s windows at 61st and Madison. Always the most creative, though not traditional.

6

Agreed. By the day before Thanksgiving, full Christmas regalia is on display everywhere.

7

thanks for the info. We’re booking the trip!

8

Are you a northeasterner? You know it can be crazy cold, right? Or not, lol. When it is, we walk, then cab it to the more distant spots.

Love it.

9

The saks 5th avenue light and music show (I think they play the music every 15 minutes) is unbelievable. We saw it last year and they are doing it again this year. We go into the city every year the Saturday after Thanksgiving (when my daughter is in town for the holiday weekend). Yes, it is the most crowded time but that is definitely part of the fun. The only thing not in place is the lights on the tree at Rockefeller center (they always light it the following week.) Don’t mis the winter market (with ice skating rink and a pop up 2 story restaurant) in Bryant Park (behind the library on 42nd street.) I also like the display at the shops at columbus circle (and you can check out the amazon store inside).

10

@kiddie We used to go same weekend, The tree is such a great sight, coming around a corner, in early evening.

Tree Lighting Ceremony
The 2017 tree will be lit for the first time on Wednesday, November 29 at Rockefeller Plaza. The tree will remain lit and on display on the plaza between West 48th and 51st Streets and Fifth and Sixth Avenues until 9pm on January 7. Each year, thousands crowd the sidewalks for the event and millions watch the live broadcast.

11

Only 6 hours away :wink:

we live in northern CA. I figure ski-type layering of clothes plus waterproof boots will do the trick

12

I am from the Bay Area and have been spending Thanksgiving every year in NYC. Ski type layering plus hats and scarves will do. Just watch out for aggressive people who weaponize their strollers.It will be packed with people. Have fun.

13

If you go to see the windows in the morning, the crowds are not so bad. Tourists tend to be out and about after 10:00 am, so if you’re there earlier, you get a better view. You know, get a nice bagel and lox at Murrays downtown and then go see the windows together . . .

For a show, if you don’t want to purchase in advance and want to get discounted tickets, you probably know about the TKTS booth in Times Square? You should also know that there have been updates to that system. You can download an app – TKTS app – and it will tell you what shows are available at which TKTS windows. There are also new TKTS satellite windows. The most recent one is near Lincoln Center. The one at Southstreet Seaport never ever has a line. The app can tell you when they open and what shows are available.

The satellite TKTS windows also open earlier than the one in Times Square, meaning that you can get the first choice of available tickets for a show.

If you decide to do the Times Square TKTS, and you want to go see a play, not a musical, you don’t have to stand in the long line. The far right-hand window is reserved for plays-only purchases. (If no one wants play tickets, then that window will sell musicals too, but if someone then comes up for play only, then it will serve them first.) Often there’s a rope keeping that line closed, but you just tell the guard that you want a “play only” ticket and they will open the rope for you. One time, unintended, I decided at the last second to buy a musical ticket instead of a play, and they didn’t blink an eye, though I was in the play-only line.

14

We haven’t been to NYC during the holidays for five years. I’m thinking H and I need to have a visit next year. We always do the shop windows after a late dinner. It is cold, but a really magical time of year in the city!

15

I usually go grocery shopping at the Union Square Greenmarket on Fridays. The Christmas stalls were up today!

For good guidance re theatre listings…check out www.show-score.com see the link to “deals” at the top of the page. Check out the rest of the site, especially https://www.show-score.com/blog/guides

If you’re willing to wait to the day itself to see if you can snag a ticket, check out broadwayforbrokepeople.com.

16

Great thread! Any other insider tips or local recommendations not on Trip Advisor?

17

-Walk on the right, pass on the left–just like driving. Tourist areas will not follow this unwritten rule and will be more chaotic.

  • Tourist areas attract what pickpockets there are, while the rest of the city is relatively crime free. But be aware anyway.
  • Avoid the stuffed animals and characters in Times Square–they can be aggressive about getting tips
    -Get out of Times Square as much as possible, as there’s so much more to the City and residents as a rule avoid that area like the plague. In TS you’re really looking at other tourists.
  • Google for the list of “free” entry times of museums. Most have an hour or so each week when you can get in free. They might overlap your stays.
  • Pay what you wish at the Met Museum and AMNH. At the Met you will be able to see all of the special exhibits. At AMNH you will not, but can see the huge array in the rest of the museum. If you want to just pop into the AMNH for a short visit, you can just walk in at around 4:00 pm each day, the last hour of the museum being open. The Met’s most underappreciated portion is the Cloisters, way uptown (take the A/C line or the M4 bus), which is more like a castle than a museum.
  • As tourists tend to get out after 10:00 am, the High Line is best appreciated before 10:00 am. It’s not so crowded. It would make for a nice morning walk before coffee? Or grab a great bagel and coffee and eat it on the High Line.
  • Download the Citymapper App and use it to get around. It will tell you what trains are not working at that moment, in addition to when the buses are due at a stop, when trains are due, etc.
  • Wear shoes that you feel you could easily walk at least 3 miles in, as you will be walking a lot.
  • To walk directly across Central Park, fix your eyes on a tall building across the way, and just aim for it. You’ll choose the right paths to get there.
  • The road that circles all of Central Park is great for biking and walking. You can tell where you are in the city by looking at the streetlight posts. The set of numbers will tell you what cross street you’re at. The first two indicate the street.
  • When walking the Brooklyn Bridge one lane really is for bikes and they come fast, as they are commuting. Stay in the pedestrian path. And again go early to avoid the tourist crowds.
  • The water in NYC is some of the cleanest you will find anywhere. In an act of engineering that’s nothing short of a miracle, it pipes directly in from the Catskill mountains, is naturally filtered, has low chlorine, and is tested for purity throughout the city. Do yourself a favor and drink the water from the fountains in the park and elsewhere, if they’re not turned off for the season.
18

While you are walking around, try to go into St. Patrick’s Cathedral, on 5th Avenue, right near Rock Center. Here’s the link…http://www.saintpatrickscathedral.org/…In December there is a huge creche display indoors. It’s also a good place to sit for a while and get away from the crowds on the sidewalks.

19

If you want to take in a view from the top of a skyscraper, the views from Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center) are nicer than the views from the Empire State Building, in part because the view includes the Empire State Building! And you will be in Rockefeller Center anywhere to see the tree. Buy your ticket days ahead of time, online, so you do not need to wait at this crowded time of year. You can buy your tickets today for the timeslot you want for the weekend of 12/9.

As a Long Islander who visits the city a few times a year, I disagree with an earlier poster about avoiding Times Square. It is crowded and tacky, but it is part of the fun of NYC. Leave time before or after your Broadway show to walk through the pedestrian-only plaza in Times Square. It is a very colorful slice of touristy New York, with costumed characters including partially naked ones (characters are best viewed from a slight distance unless you have a child and will pay for a photo— characters are not ‘controlled’ like at Disney), people pontificating about various beliefs and causes, lots of lights and color and flashing advertisements, and thousands of tourists speaking every language imaginable. Look up to see in person the scrolling news line, the block-long TV screen, and the sparkly ball that you will see drop on TV on New Year’s.

Also take time to get out of the cold and crowds of the window displays and outdoor attractions by visiting a museum or seeing a show or window shopping in stores. My favorite museum is the Musuem of Natural History on the west side because I do not like visual arts, but the east side has some world class art museums and other museums on or right near Fifth Avenue. These include the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Frick, the Guggenheim (in a crazy Frank Lloyd Wright building), or history museums like the Museum of the City of NY. Toys R Us or some of the electronics stores are fun, or you may like to ‘window shop’ in some of the expensive stores along Fifth Avenue. There are also some indoor displays at the Central Park Zoo. If you visit the Central Park Zoo, the Delacorte clock’s mechanical animals outside the zoo spin to music on every half-hour and on every hour.

Remember to buy any tickets for Broadway or off-Broadway shows (and sometimes museums) far ahead of time if at all possible— preferably today! It saves time and aggravation.

20

The Met museum has a lovely Baroque Christmas tree and creche. Just a short walk through the park is the Boat House which is always decked out very Christmasy that time of year and is nice for lunch. The botanical garden in the Bronx also has a cool holiday train display where everything is made from natural materials. It’s great for kids, but if you don’t have kids with you, even better-- go to the Bar Car nights because you can grab a drink and they have fire pits outside, entertainment, etc.

I despise Times Square but if you haven’t seen the spectacle, it’s worth going.