Best Of The Holidays: Meeting Santa In The City

santa-abc-carpet-home — ABC Carpet & Home, photo by FoArgyle on flickr

Santa Claus is already in our town! Looking for spots to catch jolly St. Nick before Christmas Day? Here’s our round up of our favorite spots for photos ops , brunches, and other happenings with the man of the season.

Through December 18
Little Santa at Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
12pm to 7 pm
It’s opposite day for the traditional Santa photo op at this location. At Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Little Santa will sit in your lap instead of the other way around. Now it’s your chance to ask Santa if he has been naughty or nice this year.

Through December 24
SANT-A-Box at the DeKAlb Market (Brooklyn)
11am-4pm
Head to the market to take a cool photo with the man in the red suit in a totally un-traditional setting of decorated shipping containers, hay, glitter and snowflakes.

Through December 30
Macy’s Santaland
This department store is notoriously crowded, but the kids simply love it! Head to the 8th floor for a journey though the North Pole, featuring plenty of candy canes and a complete Christmas village. Be sure to also check out the musical puppet show while you’re there.

December 14 & 21
Fancy Tea with Santa at The Plaza Hotel
Various times
The hotel offers its special tea with at the Eloise with a special guest all the way from the North Pole. For more details please call 212-546-5450 or email [email protected].

December 15
Breakfast with Santa Aboard the ZEPHYR Cruise Circle Line Downtown
9:30 am
Santa trades his reindeer and his sleigh to come aboard the Circle Line. In addition to having a buffet breakfast of Santa’s favorites you get to dance with Santa himself and his elves to a DJ spinning tunes straight form the North Pole. Be sure to bring unwrapped toys for Sandy victims, because Santa will be collecting.

December 15
Beastly Breakfast with Santa at the Staten Island Zoo (Staten Island)
9:30am-11:30am
Wish happy holidays to all of the animals at the zoo as you enjoy a special tour and hot breakfast. Following the breakfast, there will be a Santa photo opportunity.

December 15, 16, 22, 23 & 24
Breakfast with Santa at Rockefeller Center Cafe
7:15am
Nothing quite says Christmas in New York like the Rockefeller Center. At the Rock Cente Café, enjoy a special family-style breakfast and meet Santa and his elves. Following the meal, enjoy VIP tickets to the seasonal skating ring. Reservations are required.

December 15, 16, 22, 23, 29 & 30
Santa at ABC Carpet and Home
10am-3pm Saturdays, 11 am-3pm Sundays
If Santa and his elves had to make furniture and other home goods for Christmas, ABC Carpet & Home just be what their workshop looked like. Come on the weekend to get a photo op with the “most authentically snugable” Santa of them all as well as a free ornament to take home.

December 16
Breakfast with Santa at Aviator Sports and Event Center
9am
RSVP by December 10 to enjoy breakfast munchies, Santa photo ops, crafts, and cupcake decorating at this athletics center. Bonus: Moms and Dads get a mimosa or Bloody Mary with their tickets. (Brooklyn)

Manhattan Mandarin

Manhattan Mandarin runs the Mandarin after-school programs at over 40 schools nationwide, including St. Bernard's, Chapin, Allen-Stevenson, and Buckley. Whether in schools, students' homes, in the office, online, or on our beloved China trips, our teachers and tutors have helped hundreds of students of all ages master the Mandarin language on their own unique paths to fluency. Our philosophy has always been to make private lessons and classes perfectly tailored for each individual student. We look forward to working with you. - Jamie Keyte, Founder

Penguin Coding School

<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Penguin Coding School believes that <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">anyone can code<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The most compelling motivation for learning to code is that it enables building something kids can call their own. What makes this approach "worth it" for the kids is that at the end of the road, they see that their code actually does things in the real world. Not in some playpen, but in the real Internet where anyone can access it.&nbsp; <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp; <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Programs:<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Penguin Coding School <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">provides comprehensive coding education to kids ages 5-18. In-person &amp; Online classes are available in Scratch, Minecraft, Roblox, Python, Javascript, Java, Robotics, and Mobile Apps. Their small class size, award winning teachers and age-appropriate curriculum ensure every child will learn coding with a smile. Penguin Coding has in-person classes and summer camps in Cobble Hill and Park Slope, as well as three Massachusetts locations. <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&nbsp; <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Free Trial Classes:&nbsp; <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sign up for our award-winning<a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://penguincodingschool.com/freetrial?utm_campaign=FreeTrials&amp;utm_source=NYF&amp;utm_medium=Directory"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: #1155cc; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #1155cc; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">free trial classes</a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. They offer a 60 minute free trial class in Scratch, Python, Roblox, Java, Robotics and much more! Appropriate for absolute beginners as well as those with some experience (trial classes are used to place students in the right level).

CK Kids

CK Kids offers various classes and programs, including Afterschool Program, Lil Chefs, Boys Hip-Hop, Ninja Starz, Lil Artists, CK Kids Athletic Programs, Acrobatics, Dance and Drama, and Karate.&nbsp;