We’ve long heard that Christmas in New York is the most wonderful time of the year, so we joined our friends at Carolina Tours to see what all the fuss was about.  Our hotel was the Marriott Marquis, right on Times Square, in the heart of the Theater District.  Perfect location for seeing the sights.

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN:  Neighborhoods above 14th Street and below 59th Street are home to the city’s most recognizable tourist destinations.  We made an effort to see them all ….

Broadway Theater District is the area along Broadway and Seventh Avenue between 41st and 53rd Streets.  There are some 40+ venues, some dating back to the early 1900s, offering shows for every taste.    An interesting bit from our guide: to be called a Broadway show, the theater must seat at least 500 people; off-Broadway means 100-499 seats, and off-off Broadway means less than 100 seats.  

 

    

 Bryant Park is a delightful little oasis in the center of Midtown, hidden behind the main building of the New York Public Library.  In winter, the center green space is turned into a skating rink, and at Christmas time it is surrounded by over one hundred holiday shops and food vendors.    The park is named after William Cullen Bryant, American poet and newspaper editor. 

 

Carnegie Hall plays host to elite orchestras and international performers.  It is known for its perfect acoustics and its architecture.  

The Church of St. Mary the Virgin (Episcopal) was founded in 1868 to be the parish church for the new residential neighborhood, then called Longacre Square – now known as Times Square. 

 The Chrysler Building is one of the city’s first skyscrapers and best-known examples of Art Deco architecture.  Built in 1930, it was the world’s tallest building for a few months – until is was surpassed by the Empire State Building.  

The Diamond District is the world's largest shopping district for all sizes and shapes of diamonds and fine jewelry at tremendous prices and value. Over 90 percent of the diamonds that enter this country go through New York City and most of them go through the Diamond District. More than 2,600 independent businesses are located in the Diamond District, and nearly all of them are related to diamonds or fine jewelry.  

The Empire State Building is a 102-story skyscraper office building on Fifth Avenue.  It stood as the world’s tallest building for nearly 40 years – today it barely makes the top ten.   

Fifth Avenue is the heart of Manhattan retail.  The grand old department stores have Christmas window displays that delight young and old:  Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord and Taylor, Bergdorf Goodman.    

Saks Fifth Avenue

 

Lord & Taylor

 

 

Bergdorf Goodman

 

The Flatiron Building is a triangular 22-story building considered to be a ground-breaking skyscraper when it was completed in 1902.  The name “Flatiron” derives from its resemblance to a cast-iron clothes iron.  

Grand Central Terminal (aka Grand Central Station) is a 1913 Beaux Arts building that houses a railroad station, a subway shops, and lots of shops and restaurants.  This is the city entrance through which half a million commuters pass every day.  

The USS Intrepid is an aircraft carrier that served in World War II, Vietnam and the Cold War, and was one of NASA’s primary recovery vessels.  It is now permanently docked at Pier 66, housing a sea, air and space museum. 

Junior’s Deli is known as the home of New York’s best cheesecake.  After one slice here, we didn’t bother doing any comparison shopping.  Purely delicious!

The Marble Collegiate Church is the oldest remaining building of the Dutch Reformed Church that was established in 1628 in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam.   At the time, the entire population of the city was less than 300.  The first church elder was Governor Peter Minuit, who had recently purchased Manhattan Island from the Native Americans.   Norman Vincent Peale was the pastor here for 52 years. 

The New York Public Library was founded in 1895.  It is the nation’s largest public library system, serving over 17 million patrons a year, and millions more online.  The Library holds more than 51 million items, including some rare treasures such as Columbus’s 1493 letter announcing his discovery of the New World and George Washington’s original Farewell Address.  The marble lions guarding the main entrance are named Patience and Fortitude.  

Radio City Music Hall is the home of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, starring the Rockettes.  The show is in its 83rd year and has been enjoyed by nearly 75 million people.  Hard to pick a favorite part of the show, but the precision of the “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” and the 3-D sleigh ride through New York City were certainly highlights. 

 

Rockefeller Center is a model of urban planning and design with over 100 restaurants and specialty stores, an ice skating rink, and – of course – the iconic Christmas Tree.  Note that the tree-topper is a 550-pound Swarovski star made of 25,000 crystals, 720 LED lights, 44 circuit boards and 3,000 feet of wire.  We passed on the opportunity to buy a replica ($80) for our little tree at home.  

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is the largest Roman Catholic church in the U.S., with a seating of 2,400.  It is also one of the most beautiful, with its 26-foot rose window and Tiffany stained glass window.  The foundation of this Gothic-style structure were laid before the Civil War, but the church was not completed until 14 years after the war ended. 

 

Salvation Army Red Kettles are a common sight on city sidewalks all over the country at Christmas time.  New York offers a little something extra – many of the workers brought along a boom-box with Christmas music and some fancy dance steps.  They got lots of smiles and lots of donations, too. 

Street vendors are another sidewalk institution.  Pizza, hot dogs and roasted chestnuts are the most widely available foods, but it seems that many New Yorkers grab lunch at these convenient carts all over town. 

And then there’s Tiffany’s, the most famous jewelry store in New York (and maybe the world).  The store’s windows are very small, but elegantly decorated with VERY expensive jewelry.  The UNICEF Snowflake hangs in the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street. 

 

Trump Tower is right next door to Tiffany’s.  It, too, is well-decorated for the holidays.  Donald Trump owns 33 buildings in New York City; he lives in this tower.  And no, we didn’t see him. 

 

Times Square must be the center of the universe, or at least the crossroads of the world.  It is a major commercial area and one of the world's busiest pedestrian intersections - nearly half a million people pass through here on a busy day.  It is adorned with billboards and advertisements, as well as a few quirky characters such as the "Naked Cowboy."

 

UPPER MANHATTAN:  The upper tip of Manhattan claims some of the city’s most prestigious and private establishments, as well as its most accessible parks and museums. 

Central Park was designed as a refuge for New York City residents by architects Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux.  This is not your typical neighborhood park; it’s 2.5 miles long and 0.5 mil wide, covering 843 acres of wooded and landscaped grounds with gardens, lakes, ice-skating rinks, a carousel, a zoo, and myriad playing fields. 

 

There are many options for exploring the park’s miles of paths and passageways.  We chose the iconic horse-drawn carriage, replete with festooned horse, top-hatted driver and the customary plush blanket.   

Columbus Circle, named for Christopher Columbus, is located at the southwest corner of Central Park.  The monument at the center was erected in 1892 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus landing in the America’s.  The nearby Time Warner Center is festival of lights in the evening.   

 

The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a 14-acre complex of educational and artistic institutions.  Its buildings, designed by some of the nation’s finest architects, include homes for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the New York City Ballet, the Julliard School, the Chamber Music Society, and the Metropolitan Opera House.    

LOWER MANHATTAN:  Manhattan below 14th Street is an eclectic mix of neighborhoods, interesting sights and people-watching opportunities. 

Chinatown is home to the largest enclave of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere.  Chinese restaurants and shops line the streets and vendors crowd the busy sidewalks. 

 

Grace Church (Episcopal) is an historic parish in Manhattan, located at the intersection of Broadway and 10th Street.  The building is a French Gothic Revival masterpiece designed by James Renwick, his first major commission. 

Little Italy is the neighborhood once known for large population of Italian immigrants.  The aroma of Italian food still permeates its narrow streets, but today the area is confined to a few blocks of Mulberry Street. 

 

Greenwich Village was once known as the city’s bohemian center.  Today the Village is famed for its restaurants, curio shops, bookstores, art shows, coffee houses and nightclubs.  

The Jefferson Market Library was originally a courthouse, built in 1876 with an adjacent prison and market.  The tower commands a grand view of Greenwich Village and houses the bell that was used to summon volunteer fireman.  Legend has it that the actress Mae West was jailed here for her performance in a Broadway play called “Sex.” 

The SoHo District is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan known as the home of the largest collection of cast iron architecture in the world.  There are some 200 cast-iron buildings in this area.  Cast iron was initially used as a decorative front over a pre-existing building, thus revitalizing older structures.  Later, molds were prefabricated in foundries and new buildings could be erected quickly at lower cost and with superb architectural detail. 

Wall Street is the financial heart of the country.  It takes its name from the wooden wall erected by early settlers to protect the colon from attack.  The nearby “Charging Bull,” also known as the Bull of Street, is a massive sculpture symbolizing aggressive financial optimism and prosperity.   

Saint Paul’s Chapel (Episcopal) was built in 1765.  It is Manhattan’s only surviving pre-revolutionary church and is said to be the oldest public building in continuous use now standing in Manhattan.  George Washington and Gov. George Clinton had designated pews here. For weeks after the 9/11 bombing, the church served as a sanctuary for rescue workers and volunteers – a quiet place for rest and reflection. 

Trinity Church (Episcopal) was originally built in 1696; the present neo-Gothic edifice was completed in 1846.  It was the first site of King’s College, now Columbia University.  Alexander Hamilton and Robert Fulton are buried in the church cemetery. 

 The National September 11 Memorial occupies 8 acres of the World Trade Center grounds, where the Twin Towers once dominated the city skyline.  The memorial’s design, “Reflecting Absence,” features two pools of water embedded in the footprints of the fallen Twin Towers.  Each pool is almost 1acre and is fed by a 30-foot waterfall which disappears into center abyss.  Surrounding the pools are bronze panels engraved with the names of the 2.983 individuals who died in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 – included are the names of those killed at the Twin Towers, at the Pentagon, at Flight 93’s Pennsylvania crash site and in the February 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

 

The memorial also includes a park with 400 swamp white oak trees and one resurrected Callery pear tree, called the Survivor Tree, rescued from the ruins of the towers. 

The 1,776-foot-tall One World Trade Center, formerly known as Freedom Tower, opened in 2014.  It is the tallest building in the United States.  Near its base is the National September 11 Memorial Museum, which contains exhibits depicting how September 11, 2001, unfolded, as well as personalized memorials to each of the victims of this disaster. 

Nearby is New York City Firehouse Ten, the station that played such a vital role in rescue and recovery efforts at Ground Zero.  One wall of the station is covered by a 65-foot bronze bas-relief sculpture honoring the 343 firemen who lost their lives here. 

Battery Park, at the south tip of Manhattan Island, was the site of a fort established by the first Dutch Settlers in 1624.  It offers beautiful views of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  Good place to contemplate the role of immigrants in the making of America.