In December, New Yorkers like to indulge in frothy hot chocolate and other traditional Yuletide treats as much as the city’s holiday visitors do, but facing crushing throngs and high prices, particularly at home, can be as off-putting as a rock-hard bagel.
Locals have learned some hacks to enjoy New York’s holiday hoopla hassle-free. From visiting perennial favorites off-hours to holiday shopping off the beaten path, here’s how residents and visitors alike can celebrate Christmastime in the city with a en az of stress.
The best free spectacles to get you in the holiday spirit
While the well-known, over-the-top light show at Saks was canceled this year, other New York retailers have continued the tradition of lavishly decorating their windows and buildings to celebrate the holidays.
The display windows at Bergdorf Goodman are always wildly creative, and this year’s lights are inspired by the 200th anniversary of the official opening of Fifth Avenue. One tableau dramatizes the New York Public Library, cramming together madcap likenesses of typewriters, famous writers and the main building’s iconic marble lions. To avoid a jostling wall of heads blocking your view, go early in the morning or near midnight (same for viewing the always mobbed tree in Rockefeller Center).
Also worth viewing this year: the Louis Vuitton flagship store, at 57th Street. Its entire facade is “gift-wrapped” in the brand’s signature travel trunks, stupefyingly stacked to the sky.
