Magical Moments: Unveiling the Enchantment of Christmas in New York City

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year, at least for whoever that does not live in New York City. It gets cold and incredibly crowded. Days are shorter as the Winter Solstice approaches, leaving us in pitch darkness by 4:30 pm. Sunrise is also a little later too, making it almost depressing going to work and coming back home at nighttime. BUT. The feeling of the Holidays and the end of the year is very present. Having grown up in a Catholic family, Christmas was a very especial season. In Colombia, we celebrate it from December 07 (or 08, depending on the region), during the traditional Día de Velitas (Little Candle’s Day), depicted in the very well known Disney’s Encanto:

At the beginning of this very sad but beautiful video, you can see all the little candles everywhere, and that is how literally is back in Colombia on that day. Then, on December 16th the Novenas start. It is 9 days of mostly night time prayers, in celebration of baby Jesus birth, ending on Christmas Eve, where everyone gather to eat and drink.

Years later now in New York City, even missing all those traditions, Christmas is still part of my daily December life. Between work and the cold weather, I had be trying to go into Manhattan to see the decorations. I finally was able to go on December 03.

I wish they also closed the streets on Sundays because Midtown WAS CROWDED. Sneaking into the Rockefeller Center area was very difficult, but this was not my first time doing this. Through the years I learned how to deal with all the tourists and locals willing to see the Christmas Tree. The thing is, getting to the very front is almost impossible, since people just station themselves on the railings looking directly to the tree. Your best bet would be to just do the line for ice skating, and take the pictures closer when inside of the barricaded area. Doing this activity costs from $11 to $65 according to their website. In my opining I would just recommend to skate in Central Park’s Wollman Rink since it is a bigger area and the views are just better.

But visiting Rockefeller Center is just a requirement at this point every Christmas. After the fiasco of the arrival of the tree to New York City that happens every single year, I am just glad that the tree looks so good at least at night. It is a magical moment.

Across from the tree, and on 5th Ave is the very famous Saks Fifth Avenue Christmas Lights show, which happens every few minutes and it is very cute to see. Just be ready for even more crowds and sometimes even having to walk on the street.

After a bit, and being pushed by people, I finally got out of the bigger crowd and decided what else to do. I have been a fan of the Starbucks Reserve in Chelsea for years now, it is really a different experience and go there is a must-do when in the area. One time earlier this year, when my Colombian mom and nephew were visiting me here, we took shelter from the icing cold in there, after visiting the new Little Island Park. Because of all of this I wanted to visit the new Starbucks Reserve in the Empire State Building, in which I had never been by the way (the building and the Starbucks). So I went ahead and grabbed the new ebikes (the white fast ones), and went all the way down to 34th St. I was so excited and also hungry, so I wanted to eat in there too. Well, I went in there and oh God.

“I was in shock honey, I was in tears almost”. In the words of Nene, I was so dissapointed. This is the saddest looking Starbucks I have seen, and this is supposed to be the best? Like no wonder why it has 3.4/5.0 rating in Google Maps. It looks so bad. It is 3 floors of nothingness.

I don’t know if it was the time or what but it just looked sad. The only part that looked good was the 2nd floor which it is a Princi Restaurant, that at the time was too busy for me to even consider going in there. I just left and just going to continue prefering the Chelsea one.

I was still hungry so I Googled what was around and I noticed Chick-fil-A was a few blocks away. I walked there and finally ate something: a delicious chicken sandwich. I also went to the closeby Wendy’s to get me the new Peppermint Frosty. Yummy yummy. I was done for the day.

I kinda failed on my mission to see also the Christmas Markets, so after a whole week I decided to go back and take revenge on December 10th. Manhattan welcomed me with a dumpster fire and SantaCon lol.

The fire got big and even the firefighters had to come. While I was getting away from this AND the SantaCon tourists, I went deep into the Bryant Park Winter Village. This is where I ice skated for the first time years ago, and it just got way better over the years.

I was once again starving and wanted the traditional hot cocoa, and some holiday food, but the lines were ridiculous. The place was packed and walking was so difficult. A few moments ago I had been in Times Square and it was the busiest I had ever seen it, since the NYE I spent there once. Tourists and locals are definitely enjoying the Christmas season in NYC.

The entire area was really cute, I prefer this Christmas market compared to others, but the ones in Columbus Circle and Union Square are very good too.

The views of midtown and the whole Christmas decorations are cute, in case you decide to ice skate here. The price of this one is usually cheaper than the Rockefeller one but more expensive than the Central Park one.

After some time, and once again not being able to get something to eat, I ditched the park and took an ebike down to the Harry Potter store, one of my favorite places in the city. If I worked around here I would go there after work every day lol. Unfortunately, this time they were doing virtual line, so I just left. I am planning to be back tho.

It seems like the store is in fact decorated and full of Christmas spirit, just like all the Harry Potter movies, for some reason.

My cellphone was dying during this not-so-planned adventure into the city, so I just decided to walk to the Union Square Park Holiday Market. I was glad it was not AS crowded as all the other places I had been.

This is a holiday market where you can find many stores and food places. I was starving, so I went straight ahead to the restaurants area, and BOOM, I saw a Colombian food place: Palenque Colombian Food. Thank you baby Jesus.

The prices were on the expensive side, compared to a regular Hispanic place in Queens or Brooklyn, BUT I had this type of food here and now, so I had to try it. Also, there was a line but not too long, compared to the Raclette booth next door.

I opted for the Arepa Burger. It was SO GOOD. Please go try it. Also, Palenque is the name of many places in Latin America, but in Colombia, it is the name of the first free African town in The Americas, also part of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

I was still looking for that hot cocoa (I know), so while I was eating my Arepa Burger, I went to another booth, Winter Pie Shop.

I finally got my hot cocoa and a pie to eat at home. The price was again on the expensive side, but I was just glad to have some traditional food. I ate the Cranberry Pie at home and it was very good.

In Conclusion:

Even though I did not get to visit all the NYC Holiday places in these 2 evenings, I have been to enough places in the last years to recommend some of them. My bests picks are:

• Rockefeller Center: The most crowded area, but it is worth at least to see the tree at night.
• The Holiday Markets: Columbus Circle, Bryant Park and Union Square are the best ones.
• The stores: The Harry Potter store is never a miss if you are or know a Potterhead. The Hudson Yards shopping mall, Macy’s and Time Warner Center are also very cute and well decorated.
• The ice rinks: If what you like is to go ice skating, I would recommend the most the one in Central Park. The views of the city are just mesmerizing while you try to keep it together.
• Finally, do whatever you want do. What you see in the movies, go do it. It is usually like that in real life.

Let me know if you have any questions, and Happy Holidays!