Christmas in NYC; New York City a Fun Filled Place to Spend Christmas - 6 Things

Christmas in NYC is a fantastic way to spend the Christmas season. The lights and the sounds of the city can really bring out the holiday spirit. Here are some great sites to see if you’re ever in NYC on Christmas.

Christmas in NYC – Some Great Things to See.

1. The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree (NYC’s pride and joy) is a beaming and brilliant symbol of the holiday season. Tourists and native New Yorkers alike sure do love this towering tree.

The tree will be lit daily from 5am to midnight daily. On Christmas Day, the tree is lit for 24 hours and on New Year’s Eve it is lit from 5am to 9pm. The tree goes dark for the season at 10pm on January 13.

More than 50,000 multi-colored LED lights wrap around the branches. It’s topped with a three-dimensional Swarovski star that weighs 900 pounds and sparkles in 3 million crystals. Architect Daniel Libeskind designed the stunning star in 2018.

2. Dyker Heights Holiday Lights

The Dyker Heights Christmas Lights display has definitely earned its stripes as one of the best New York attractions. What’s not to love about all that razzle-dazzle to get you in the Christmas spirit?

The Brooklyn neighborhood is home to the most over-the-top Christmas light decorations with life-size Santas, sleighs, snowmen and some houses even bump Christmas carols from loudspeakers. Crowds of all ages flock to the Kings County neighborhood to wander down the multiple blocks and avenues.

Most houses are decorated starting the weekend after Thanksgiving through early January.

You can walk through on your own, but a tour might be a little easier. Bus tours are back from A Slice of Brooklyn, Dyker Heights Christmas Lights and many more. There’s even a Spanish language tour—vamos!

3. The Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park

The Winter Village at Bryant Park is back in all its holiday glory. On the grounds you can peruse more than 180 shopping and food kiosks—all at one of the best NYC parks. Expect loads of handmade, unique and New York City-specific gifts for your family and friends. Work up an appetite at the 17,000-square-foot ice-skating rink and then fill up at the rinkside pop-up restaurant called The Lodge for festive cocktails and hearty food beside the tree.

Don’t miss the Small Business Spotlight booth, which features local minority-owned businesses.

The Winter Village will be open through March 3, 2024.

4. The Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes

You’ll get a kick out of this holiday stalwart, which still features Santa, wooden soldiers and the dazzling Rockettes. In recent years, new music, more eye-catching costumes and advanced technology have been introduced to bring audience members closer to the performance.

In the signature kick line that finds its way into most of the big dance numbers, the Rockettes’ 36 pairs of legs rise and fall like the batting of an eyelash, their perfect unison a testament to the disciplined human form. This is precision dancing on a massive scale—a Busby Berkeley number come to glorious life—and it takes your breath away.

5. GingerBread Lane

GingerBread Lane—the world’s largest gingerbread village—will return to Manhattan with NYC-inspired designs. Artist Jon Lovitch has been working on the detailed gingerbread display all year long.

Year after year, Lovitch whips up thousands of pounds of icing and bakes hundreds of pounds of gingerbread to create massive gingerbread towns. Expect to see about 1,000 gingerbread houses, stores, breweries, dance studios, pizzerias, bakeries, ice cream parlors and more at the display. Look for pink nutcrackers drawn from the decor at Essex House, an ice rink as a nod to Rockefeller Center, a few homes that resemble those in Forest Hills, Queens, and lots of other NYC-inspired details.

Find GingerBread Lane at Chelsea Market in Manhattan from November 26 to January 7 near the hallway with the twinkling lights. It’ll be on view during market hours, 8am-9am daily.

6. Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off

Rockefeller Center, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Bronx Zoo, the Apollo Theater and more iconic New York City landmarks have been shrunken down and sugar-fied into gingerbread re-creations. Twenty-three gingerbread houses comprise this year’s “Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off” at the Museum of the City of New York.

The display is now on view through January 15 at the museum on the Upper East Side. The exhibition is included with general admission, which costs $20/person. Local judges awarded honors to the top-placing entries, but everyone can vote on their favorite for the People’s Choice award.