How to win New York’s festive season

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This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s guide to New York

Blame Elf. Blame Miracle on 34th Street. Blame When Harry Met Sally — specifically the scene where they carry a Christmas tree through snowy Manhattan. It’s definitely Hollywood’s fault that when I moved to New York from London two years ago, I expected to be drenched in festive magic each holiday season.

So too, no doubt, do the 7.5mn tourists predicted to land in the city between Thanksgiving and New Year. A festive NYC trip is on many a bucket list, but I’ll be honest: it sometimes feels less magical in reality. Dreaming of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree? You might, like me, find yourself trapped for hours in a slow-moving crowd of people shooting TikTok videos. Ice skating? My inner Scrooge balks at the cost ($344.28 last time I checked, for my family of four to glide around the famous tree). A show? Ditto ($744 for four tickets to The Rockettes’ Christmas Spectacular). Bah humbug. 

But the festive season in New York City is magical, asserts Megan Marod, an actor, historian and tour guide, as long as you are well prepared. “Make reservations — this isn’t the time to try and get last-minute bargains,” she says. Book a table at the well-reviewed Le Rock, owned by the team behind hip Tribeca restaurant Frenchette, and you’ll get crush-free views of the Rockefeller tree. Or, if you can, throw money at the problem. A VIP Rockefeller tour, for example, includes access to private terraces within the Art Deco skyscraper, for $285 a person.

But grand displays aren’t exclusive to the famed Midtown conifer; there is plenty of festive sparkle elsewhere — and fewer people. “Lower Manhattan is really, really magical,” says Marod. She recommends walking from Union Square Holiday Market to Washington Square Park, or checking out the trees at South Street Seaport and the New York Stock Exchange. Or, if you’re really into Christmas lights, take the subway to Dyker Heights in Brooklyn — an enclave of OTT bedazzled houses.

Soho is very twinkly at this time of year, too. Robin Standefer, the chic proprietor of the French contemporary restaurant La Mercerie, beautifully decorates her establishment each year with a huge Christmas tree (an apéro stop is an ideal mid-afternoon indulgence). Her recommendation for festive shopping is to start around 10am (when some stores open; others not till 11am), near Central Park, at 57th Street and 5th Avenue: walk past the wild windows at Bergdorf Goodman, then take a cab or walk to SoHo, where she loves the “offbeat, weird stores” like John Derian for quirky homewares, Toteme and Rick Owens for unique designer fashion, and the over 100-year-old ribbon store Hyman Hendler in Midtown, where she buys trimmings for wrapping presents. 

The key to the festive season, I am starting to realise, is choosing one or two typical, touristy endeavours, doing them in the least annoying way possible and then filling your trip with authentic, idiosyncratic experiences. Like curling up in the cosy environs of one of the city’s bookstore bars, places to read and sip mulled wine on wintry evenings, which are cropping up from SoHo to the Bronx. Maura Cheeks, a novelist and the owner of Liz’s Book Bar in Brooklyn, says New York excels at “third spaces, because our living spaces are really small”. It’s often a social experience too, she adds: “New Yorkers are very open to meeting strangers” — something I have noticed myself since moving here, so you may well find yourself chatting to locals. Away from the blare of Times Square, New York does conviviality extremely well.

For Molly Krause, who works in the visual arts, this time of year means heading to Chinatown, with its Blade Runner glowing signs and strings of lanterns. “It’s magical to me,” she says. She’ll either go to Shanghai 21 restaurant or the popular and often oversubscribed Hwa Yuan Szechuan, where she and her family spent last Christmas Day (when it’s a Jewish-American tradition to eat Chinese food), dining on dry sautéed tangy crispy beef. There are so many special spots here, like Nom Wah Tea Parlor, which is nestled down an atmospheric, lantern-lined alleyway.

Krause also rates Tribeca’s The Odeon restaurant, famous for hosting Andy Warhol and Tom Wolfe; Standefer offers up Grand Central Oyster Bar for that “bustle of old New York”. This year, I plan to hunker down in snug spots like Balthazar and Bemelmans Bar, both of which are suffused with that perfect, archetypically New York golden lighting.

For those craving a less urban feel, there’s Black Mountain Wine House, well off the tourist trail (40 minutes on the subway from Times Square) in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. It has a roaring fireplace and a “cosy, warm, Adirondack” vibe, says owner Tyler Maganzini. His other tips are Molly’s Shebeen in Gramercy —“They decorate a lot for Christmas, but it feels like a real place” — and The Bowery Hotel’s wood-lined bar. If it snows, though, he always goes to the Brooklyn Inn in Cobble Hill: “A very old establishment with beautiful and old huge front windows, to sit and watch the snow come down in the street lights.” 

Which reminds me: it hasn’t snowed much recently (a worrying 701-day snow-free streak was broken in mid-January 2024), which may have contributed to my levels of Bah Humbug-ness. If it does snow for the holidays (though, alas, the Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts a mild winter), I suspect even I will be helpless to New York’s festive magic.

How to have a happy holiday in NYC

DO venture further afield than the holiday hotspots around Midtown. Try wandering the West Village or Brooklyn Heights, gawping at festive decorations on beautiful brownstones.

DON’T go to see the Rockefeller Christmas tree at the weekend, unless you enjoy being squished into strangers. See it on a weekday, when New Yorkers are working — ideally at around 4.30pm, when it’s just dark — or at 11.45pm (the lights switch off at midnight) on the way home from dinner.

DO find another way to take in the twinkly festive action. Most New Yorkers I know do not shun Fifth Avenue entirely — but they do know how make it go smoothly. A friend of mine has an annual tradition of drinks at The Plaza with a pal, right near the shops with their festive windows but away from the crowds.

DON’T be spontaneous. Book restaurants via Eater, which is particularly helpful for its map-format options, so you can conquer the city area by area. Many popular spots book up the moment reservations are released, which is usually but not always 30 days in advance — check specific policies. You may need to set an alarm to even try to get a table at some places.

DO be prepared to flex your credit card. The festivities in NYC can be pricey, but there are budget-friendly options. Research the plans of all of the big cultural institutions, many of which, like The Met, may have incredible trees and free carolling events. Check out Bryant Park, Wollman Rink in Central Park and Prospect Park’s LeFrak ice-skating rinks, which are all cheaper than the Rockefeller. Some are free but you need to pay for ice-skate rental. Book those ahead too.

What do you like most about New York during the holidays? Tell us in the comments below. And follow FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @FTGlobetrotter

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