new york in the winter is different than new york in the summer new york city transforms during the
holidays ice rinks that weren't there start to appear holiday trees pop up almost on every corner
and you can't forget the lights and decor yes it's frigid and you really need to battle the cold
but the city makes up for it and in this video whether you're a tourist or a local i've got six
holiday things for you to do in new york city hello and happy new yorking my name is thea and
you're watching urban caffeine where we talk about urban history culture transit and how to celebrate
the holidays in new york city if you like mulled wine hit that like button and if you're not
into mulled wine hit it anyway because that's not the only thing we're going to talk about
the holiday season is one of my favorite times of the year in new york city despite the cold
weather and bitter wind chills the city makes up for it by providing plenty of things to see and do
this year the big three winter villages are columbus circle
bryant park and union square columbus circle and union square will have a
market with vendors as well as food and holiday fare like mulled wine
bryant park is larger with not just shops and food but also skating and curling
i'm only mentioning these three because these are the three most popular but there are other markets
that pop up all over the city and if there's one that you'd like to share comment down below
yes the whole country hypes up the rockefeller tree from the moment it's chosen to the time it
arrives to the time it gets taken down and donated to charity and even when the tree is not there its
spa is forever marked on the pavement but while it's fun to visit the rockefeller tree there are
plenty of other trees scattered all over the city and because the city has a lot of these
decorated holiday trees it's fun to pick out a handful of trees every year and go tree hopping
while getting refreshments coffee and other treats in between trees this year for example i plan to
do the following my tree hopping adventure will start at the american museum of natural history to
see the annual origami tree every year they deck out the tree with origami from all over the world
then i'll catch a warm drink at columbus circle holiday market
then try to get into the lobby of the peninsula hotel it's supposedly decked
out to the t after that i'll walk down fifth avenue to take a look at the window displays
until i get to the rockefeller tree because it's after all the granddaddy of all the trees
then end the day at bryant park get something to eat and drink and watch the skaters
that's my tree agenda this year and next year i'll probably pick out a different set of trees museums
like the met museum and the american museum of natural history will have trees parks like
washington square park madison square park will also have trees and don't forget the botanical
gardens then there are districts and other establishments like the new york stock exchange
and brookfield place there are plenty of trees to choose from to make countless tree hopping routes
i have yet to see a place more decked out than rolf's as a plus it's near madison square park and
union square so you can easily visit either if you dine at rolf's i go to rolf's for the atmosphere
they serve traditional german food and have enough holiday ornaments that i'm surprised the ceiling
hasn't caved in of course there are many places around the city known for their holiday decor
examples would be rosemary's at greenwich village or if you want to be fancy there's
tavern on the green at central park it's that time of year when restaurants and businesses
really deck out their place so it's worth going out exploring and enjoying the festive atmosphere
year after year since 1933 radio city music hall produces the christmas spectacular
starring their radio city rockets it's an over the top performance with singing and dancing
all within christmas themes it's a little kitschy but we could all use a little bit of kitchiness
every now and then another option is the new york city ballet who performs the nutcracker each year
or perhaps an orchestra performing a holiday special at carnegie hall
and don't forget choir performances and carolers that pop up here and there
another tradition around the holidays that's free to do is view the holiday windows of retail stores
major department stores make it a point to really deck out their windows some notable
ones are macy's at herald square lord and taylor saks fifth avenue tiffany and co bergdorf goodman
louis vuitton and bloomingdale's but of course these are not the only stores that deck out their
windows around the holiday season if you know some stores worth visiting comment down below
and of course we can't leave out ice skating what i love about new york is that you can potentially
ice skate for free or at a very very low cost that's right you can skate for free if you have
your own ice skates and a note on ice skates i probably ice skate twice during the holiday season
and maybe once or twice during the summer when it's really hot outside and in new york skate
rentals can range anywhere from 10 to 45 dollars depending on demand doing the math that's enough
to mirror owning your own ice skates my ice skates cost me about eighty dollars and i've used them
four times the first year i had them so they already paid for themselves the first year and
i've had them for five years so i think i got my return of investment there are several areas in
new york to ice skate but during the holidays this year the popular ones are woman rink at central
park rockefeller center bryant park chelsea piers and brookfield place brooklyn has prospect park
and industry city and staten island has veterans memorial park the ones in brooklyn and staten
island are all outdoors and will be mostly locals the rings at chelsea piers and brookfield place i
have yet to try out and if i do you'll find a post on instagram as for the rockefeller center i feel
that this is a bucket list thing to do that you only do once the ice is not as smooth as central
parks or bryant park and it's quite expensive compared to the other rinks around the city
mainly because it's a big tourist attraction but skating at rockefeller center with the tree and
the statue of prometheus and the whole festive atmosphere is very iconic that's why it's more
expensive and you only get an hour to skate unlike central park the price is quite reasonable it's a
larger ring i feel that the ice is much better and there is no time limit and it's open not
just through the holiday season but all the way to april as for bryant park it's only open during
the holiday season but what i love about it is admission is free that's right admission is free
and if you bring your own skates and you bring your own shoe bag to carry your shoes then you
could potentially pay zero to ice skate although bryant park does have a time limit and that's 55
minutes from the time of your ticket which isn't bad i've seen people reserve two time slots also
bryant park is part of a winter village so before after skating you can enjoy the shops or have
drinks and treats while watching the other skaters so that's the holidays in new york for you in a
very very small nutshell i only mentioned a few things to do but these are all classic activities
if there are other activities that you would like to share comment down below and speaking
of the holidays this video is publishing right after thanksgiving so some of you might still
be eating some leftover turkey in the spirit of thanksgiving i would like to say that i'm thankful
for the viewers of urban caffeine both longtime subscribers and new subscribers alike this channel
is alive because of you so thank you so much for watching for hitting that like button subscribing
commenting and generally engaging it's been a full year since this channel started and because of you
we can keep new yorking for another year and maybe another year and another year so thank you so much
for participating and keeping this channel active with that happy holidays and happy new yorking