If you’re not heading through the woods to grandmother’s house this Christmas, check out our neighborhood guides for spending the holiday in style, right on in your own ‘nabe. While there isn’t a ton open on the holiday, there’s much more than you think, and plenty to do and see!
Upper West
Side
Christmas Eve
Families can start their festive weekend celebrations by heading over to the
Children’s Museum of Manhattan for the Best of the Arts
Holiday Festival, where chiildren can decorate a snowflake and create a
snowman sculpture.
Then, take a trip to Symphony Space,
which will be screening the family film “Hugo and the Dragon” (an internationally
acclaimed animated musical about a young boy attempting to defeat a dragon to
bring back light to his village) on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
After the movie, stretch your legs and take a stroll in Central Park to catch Kris
Kringle at the Belvedere Castle, so kids can tell Santa one last time what
they’re hoping for this Christmas. If you’re feeling truly festive, stop in at
the American Museum of Natural History for a glimpse of
the Origami
Holiday Tree, a 13 foot tree that features hundreds of handmade origami ornaments.
End your
night with a bit of Christmas ballet magic by taking in a performance of George
Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” at Lincoln Center. The New York City
Ballet utilizes its full roster of professional ballerinas, dancers and
musicians as well as children from the School of American Ballet to put on this production. Children
will love the one ton Christmas tree that appears on stage.
Upper East Side
Christmas Eve
Start the day off with a visit to Santa
at the Belvedere Castle. Children can take pictures with Jolly St. Nick and ask for last minute gifts.
Then, drop
by the Museum of the City of New York, where kids can create their own
ornament between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. The museum provides the supplies for your little
artisans, and they can even hang their masterpiece on the museum’s Christmas tree.
Afterward,
take in a Christmas Pageant at the Church
of the Heavenly Rest, which will feature the talents of over 100 city children. For families who are interested, a mass will follow the pageant.
After the heavenly performance, take a look at work of art at The
Metropolitan Museum of Art Christmas Tree. This magical piece, decorated
with 18th Century Neapolitan cherubs and
angels as well as a nativity scene, will be a hit with children who love the
arts.
Finally, detour to Park Avenue for a
look at the Memorial
Trees spanning from 48th to 97th streets. These gorgeously decorated
conifers have been lit since the close of WWII in the memory of fallen
soldiers.
Tribeca
Christmas Eve
We believe that Christmas celebration is complete without hot cocoa, so start things off with a visit to Tribeca Treats, a bakery known for its wide variety of chocolates, cookies, and scrumptious
cupcakes. The shop will be open on Christmas eve until 4 p.m., so make a quick pit stop to grab a cup of hot chocolate (or a chocolate covered banana or brownie!)
Once you’ve satisfied your sweet tooth, start
off the festive activities with a trip to the Financial District’s Trinity
Church’s annual Christmas Eve Family Service from 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. Children are invited by the pastor to the front of the
church to hear the Christmas story, and everyone will enjoy the Christmas carols performed by the
church’s youth choir.
After
the service, get a bite to eat at Blaue Gans, which has authentic Austro-German food perfect to warm you up and have a great
family feast. (It’s open until 12 p.m. on Christmas Eve and until 9 p.m. on Christmas Day).
To
end the night off with laughs, go to up to 92Y Tribeca for its hilarious production, “24th Night of
Hanukkah,”
at 8
p.m. Families can check out this knee-slapping, non-denominational comedy show for only $15.
Christmas Day
After
sleeping in or opening all those special gifts, stretch those legs on a morning
stroll through the picturesque Washington Market Park. There’s a 10% of
snow, so you just might get the chance to walk in a winter wonderland!
Murray Hill
Christmas Eve
Start your Christmas Eve by introducing your kids to a classic and check out Macy’s Puppet Theare’s performance of “Miracle on 34th Street” at Macy’s in Herald Square. Afterwards, check out Macy’s amazing Santaland and do some last minute shopping. The half-hour shows begin at 9:30 a.m. and cost only $5. While you’re in the neighborhood, why not check out all the other amazing holiday windows?
After doing some Christmas sightseeing, warm up with a trip to the nearby Morgan Library and Museum for more Christmas
traditions. Take the kids to see the Charles Dicken’s “A Christmas
Carol” Exhibit. The original manuscript is on display. The library is open
till 4 p.m. and you can see the
historic story for $15 adults, $10 children.
When you’re finished taking in the exhibit, go see the amazing holiday train display and Christmas shop at Grand
Central Station. The kids can enjoy the two-level holiday train display while parents finish the last minute shopping. The train display closes at 6 p.m. and the Holiday Shopping Fair ends at 8 p.m.
Finish your day with a trip to the famous Magnolia Bakery at Grand Central Station, which will be open until 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve, for a cup of hot chocolate and a treat (and maybe an extra one for Saint Nick!)
Christmas Day
After opening some presents, bundle the kids up and take a walk up to 50th Street to catch the iconic Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center, which will be lit at 5 a.m., for the last time this season.
If you feel like dining out for Christmas dinner, head to Fagiolini on Lexington Avenue for some scrumptious traditional
Italian food. From 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. they offer some of
the finest trattoria dishes that the whole family will devour.
West Village
Christmas
Eve
Of course,
no Christmas holiday is complete without a cup of hot chocolate! On Christmas
Eve, families can head to the artisan hot chocolate outpost Chocolate Bar. Kids can try their cocoa
in flavors like caramel, raspberry and peppermint or indulge in a sweet treat.
Chocolate Bar is open until 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve and closed on
Christmas Day.
After
fueling up on cocoa, bundle up and head to Washington Square Park’s annual Holiday Caroling event at 5 p.m. Families can check out the square’s 45-foot Christmas tree (which is one of the
city’s oldest Christmas traditions, even older than the Rockefeller Center
tree!), before crooning to their favorite carols, led by the Rob Susman Brass
Quartet. Song books will be distributed.
%uFFFDOr families can visit The
Church of St. Luke in the Fields (487 Hudson Street) on Christmas Eve for a night of festive
holiday cheer. A Christmas pageant and Holy Eucharist
takes place at 5 p.m., followed by a
reception, then prelude and congregational carol singing at 9:30 p.m. and a festive choral Eucharist at 10 p.m.
If you’re looking for a bilingual Christmas service, join
the Church of the Village (201 West 13th Street) for a Christmas Eve Candlelight Service. This English
and Spanish service will be held jointly with Broken Builders Korean Methodist Mission Church, will carols, lessons and a
Christmas meditation.
Christmas
Eve & Christmas Day
Nothing says
Christmas like a zip around the ice. If you feel like
leaving the hood, check out all of our favorite rinks, but a great, close option
is Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers, which will be open on Christmas Eve from 12 p.m. to
4 p.m. and
on Christmas Day from 12
p.m. to 5:20
p.m.
Feeling adventurous? Bundle up, hop on the subway and head to one of the city’s zoos (all except the Bronx Zoo will be open) to check out their various holiday happenings, including “Presents to the Animals” at the Prospect Park Zoo and Queens Zoo.
Park Slope
Before Christmas Eve
Have some
last-minute shopping to do? Hosted by the Brooklyn Flea and Design*Sponge, the
hip holiday market “Gifted” features more than 100 vendors spanning three
floors inside One Hanson Place in Fort Greene. (Through December 23, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.)
Christmas Eve
Find your holiday spirit and join the Old First Reformed Church for a festive Christmas
Eve service. Music begins at 6:45 p.m.,
followed by service at 7:30,
including lessons, candlelight and carols.
Or, bring the kids to the Park
Slope United Methodist
Church for a special family
friendly service on Christmas Eve. A simplified service suited to families with
young kids starts at 4 p.m., followed
by carol singing. A social hour takes place following the service.
Christmas Day
So it’s
Christmas morning and, as expected, it took the kids approximately 8.5 seconds
to tear through every last present. Why not head to the Prospect Park Zoo to
watch the animals open some gifts of their own? At the zoo’s annual “Presents
to the Animals,” families can watch as animals like meercats, baboons and
otters tear open their own gift-wrapped boxes full of treats! (December 25-26, 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.)
If you’re
not quite chilled to the bone yet, why not take a few turns on the swings at J. J. Byrne Park? Before you go, line up the kids in
front of the Christmas tree for a festive photo opp. (Between 4th
and 5th Avenues and 3rd and 4th Streets)
And what
better way to top off a winter outing than with a steaming cup of something sweet
and chocolatey? Stop by the Cocoa Bar (7th Avenue between 3rd and 4th
Streets) to enjoy some hot chocolate before heading home to cure the Christmas
ham! (Open December 25 from 8 a.m.-2 p.m.)
