The below is a recommendation on Xmas night things. The pictures are dated a couple of years ago but the trip remains the same.

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New York City Christmas Season Night Walks    As in multiple places one can go

 

***I am amending this from last year to add the NY Botanical Gardens Train Exhibit at the bottom.**

Even though this report is a year old, it can be duplicated. What changes year to year is the theme of the windows. The description of the window themes are different year after year but the ideas doing these types of trips are the same.  The NY Botanical Garden Railroad Exhibit is pretty much the same as is the Bronx Zoo night time lights exhibit.***

 

email me if you have a question on anything here tabh@hascorelays.com

www.tabhauser.com

 

Walk 1: Manhattan Window Viewing

  

New York City has always been a good place to walk around at night during the holidays.  Below are two pleasant walking options I am recommending.  One traditional N.Y. stroll is to visit the window decorations in Manhattan.  Another unique and festive thing to do is to take a walk at the Bronx Zoo at night. (no kidding)

 

This year I was home for the holidays.  Being home for the holidays did not mean doing nothing.  One evening we went  into Manhattan to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and the stroll past the windows that were decorated in different theme.  In the past  we usually stayed on 5th avenue making our way or down depending on where we were going afterwards.  This time we did a little research on the net.  What we found was what can be called the Christmas New York City Stroll.  To do this we started at 34th Street because that is where the Long Island Rail Road stops.  Our window viewing stopped at the last store on Lexington and 59th.

 

After getting out of Penn Central we made our way up to the 8th Ave exit and walked to 34th street and went past the Macy’s windows here.  The windows on 34th  recalled scenes from the Miracle on 34th Street Movie. After we viewed these we went to the end of the block and made a left turn where the windows here were decorated to the theme of the Polar Express movie as well as a couple windows showing their famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.  The characters and sets here were impressive. 

 

 

  The Polar Express From Macy's Window

 

From Macy’s we made our way east to 5th avenue and the miracle mile going north.  Before going to our first planned stop we went in the NYC Library to warm up and see the new exhibit on Newton while we are inside.  I usually do not think of the library here a place to see until I remember they have temporary exhibits.  (For those that remember the movie Ghostbusters, you should know that two lions were sandblasted and look a lot cleaner now)

 

Our first window viewing stop was Lord & Taylor’s where they had a nice display dedicated to the post office.  The characters and theme went from Ye Ole New England of 200 years ago, making its way to the rail road age, and airplanes.   One of more important stops was at Teuschers in a crowded Rockefeller Center.  For those that want to be in “chocolate heaven” this is the place to go.  http://www.teuscher-newyork.com/ is the web site.  Teuchers gets their chocolate from Switzerland flown weekly.  There is no finer or fresher authentic Swiss chocolate than this.  Their most famous piece is called the Chocolate Champaign Truffle. It should be noted that the Fine Living Network rated this place as being in the top 10 mail order deserts.  We worked our way out of the store with 2 Champaign truffles and two other pieces for $11.  Hey, it may be expensive splurge, but it is cheaper and easier than going to Zurich!

 

  Rockefeller Center A Glow

 

After indulging on 2 pieces we wiggled our way down to get a glimpse and a few photos of the tree from the far side of the ice skating ring.  From there we headed back to 5th avenue and took in the Saks Fifth Avenue’s Store giant snowflake show.  What Sak’s did this past year was put up large lighted snowflakes and have them blink to music.  The  music seems to run about every 15 minutes at night and lasts a few minutes.  After the music we crossed the street and stood on line to view the windows.  Saks always has its windows done nicely.  This past years theme was something called Santa Kid.

 

From Saks we headed back up north in the sleet and light snow to admire the Cartier building.  In the past years this 4 story building was wrapped in a nice bow and ribbon that looked as if someone tied it themselves. The ribbon has been replaced with an electronic version and the bow the same.  It still looks good at night.  (The picture was a little difficult  to take as I had to protect the lens from getting wet while keeping a steady hand shooting at a slow setting.)  

 

Cartier Showing Holiday Colors While Snowing

 

From Saks we walked up a few blocks and thawed out a little in Trump’s Tower.  The atrium and lobby area are very nice but you can really see “The Donald”really likes his name.  There is the Trump Bar near the door, The Trump Buffet, pictures of  Trump and his girlfriend next to all the Trump named stuff you can buy.  It is worth a look inside and there are some nice shops.

 

After warming up a little we crossed the street and to see the windows at Bergdorf Goodman.  This famous store on 5th Avenue had different windows depicting scenes from vaudeville.  There were elegant mannequins in other windows wearing fancy gowns.     

 

From Bergdorf we went to Plaza Hotel to see their lobby where they have had some impressive gingerbread or chocolate displays in the past.  We were not allowed into the lobby with a key that evening so we headed up down to Barneys on 61st and Madison.  After seeing tribute to Pop Culture we walked to Bloomingdales on 59th and Lexington.  Bloomies  had a Phantom of the Opera Theme in which props from the movie were used in the different windows. 

 

   

In Grand Central Terminal                                                One of The Markets

 

After these last set of windows we walked to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on 301 Park Avenue to use the bathrooms and then on to Grand Central Terminal. (The Waldorf has a really good Japanese restaurant called Inagiku that I have ate. Pricey but very good)      Grand Central Terminal is one of the major commuter hubs in NY servicing trains to upstate NY and Connecticut along with the local subway.

See http://www.grandcentralterminal.com for details and pictures.  The place was fixed up several years ago and I always wanted to see this impressive structure.  After seeing a 10 minute laser show on the high ceiling we walked in the “Market” area.  Here you can pick up all kinds of raw, prepared raw and cooked foods at the different stalls.  The market offers seafood, meats, fruits and vegetables, gourmet items, chocolates, all kinds of cheeses, nuts, coffee at what seemed to be reasonable prices.  If one was commuting home with nothing for dinner this would be a good place to stop.   After the market we headed to the food court area.  We decided to start with desert at The Little Pie Company.  http://www.littlepiecompany.com .  The Fine Living Network rated the Little Pie Company also in the top ten mail order desert companies in the U.S.  The counter in Grand Central Terminal is one of 3 locations to grab one of their great tasting pies.  We both shared half of one of their famous mini sour cream apple walnut pies as an appetizer and bought a medium cherry pie to take home for New Years Eve. (the cherries in the pie were not from cans but were fresh or fresh frozen with just a hint of tartness)  From here we went to the Oyster House bypassing what looked like a pretty presentable food court that I would have no problems eating at.  The Oyster House   has been in the terminal since 1913 serving the freshest oysters, seafood and reasonably priced liquor.  Here I had an appetizer of broiled oysters and drink in their cocktail lounge  before moving to the raw oyster bar to see what was being offered.  There are three places to eat here. One is at their formal sit down dining area. The other two are at the counter or raw bar area. 

 

 

A Large Selection of Oysters                                                                         One of the Shuckers with an order ready

 

 After the oysters we went to Zocala’s Mexican Restaurant.  There are a few tables inside the place but we opted to sit was the outside area overlooking the waiting terminal.  We pleasantly surprised to find the food very good and the prices reasonable.  It is good to know that the restoration of the Grand Central Terminal improved not only the building but the stores and food services.    From Grand Central Terminal we had 20 minute walk to Penn Central where we caught the LIRR home.

 

 

The Bronx Zoo At Night     (See Below to Combine this and NY Garden's Train Event Together)


The next night we decided to head to the Bronx Zoo.  The Bronx Zoo (http://www.bronxzoo.org) each year has been putting up a light show from 5PM to 9PM.  The cost is $7 for parking (which is ridiculous because there is no place anywhere close for free parking) and $10 per adult to get in.  The zoo did a nice job taking a section of the grounds and lighting it.  They use thousands of small bulbs and make them into the shape of different animals.  Everywhere you walked there were lights.  Some of the animals had some motion whether it was the frog shooting out a bright red tongue to catch a fly or a humming bird moving its wings.  The colors are all very pretty.

 

Reflection of swooping birds by pond at entrance

 

Besides seeing the light displays you can venture into a few of the animal exhibits.

The first one we visited was Tiger Mountain.  I was told this is an amazing place in during the day. At night it was equally impressive.  Through glass windows we were able to see  two large tigers. One was about  40 feet away and resting in the cold winter air looking proudly with its head up. The other was up against the glass gnawing at a piece of meat. 

  Tiger Mountain Pictures at Night (Taken with Nikon D100 28-200 zoom 1/2 sec exposure f4)

 

 

25 Foot Locomotive Near Seal Pool

 

                                        

                                              Ice Sculptures                                           Giraffes a Glowing

 

 

 The other buildings opened at night house the monkeys, camels and rhinos.  There was also a Polar Express show one had an option to buy tickets for as well as a children’s story telling area, ice sculpture artist, store and food court.  We were here for a leisurely 90 minutes. From here we drove 5 minutes west to what I call the “real little Italy of New York”.  While Manhattan has its Little Italy being crushed on the sides by Chinatown and day tourists, Arthur Avenue in the Bronx is the living Little Italy.  It is basically a few square blocks of various Italian shops and places to eat.  On a tip from a friend we ate at Emilia’s  at 2331 Arthur Ave (718) 364-0013 and had a wonderful meal. I had an appetizer of perfect baked clams with a thin garlic butter sauce topped with a thin layer of bread crumbs. For a main course I ordered a stuffed chicken breast with chopped shrimp and red roasted peppers. The dish was presented as  rolled breast sliced into 4 pieces topped with a white wine sauce.  Maureen ordered a salad and a roasted lamb shank in which the wonderfully flavored meat was so tender it almost fell off the bone. With a half a carafe of house wine  and one delicious homemade cannoli the bill came out to $82 with tip.  A fair deal for what was presented. For a feel of mixing it up with other New Yorker's go to Domick's a few places down the block.

Here there menu is only word of mouth by the waiter. There is no written check either. He just tells you what you owe. This is a cash only place and a "local" experience to be had

 

NY Botanical Gardens Winter Exhibit  (amended 2006)

 

One event worth going to is the NY Botanical Gardens Train Exhibit.  The Holiday Train Show
Runs November 19, 2005 to January 8, 2006  in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. This means you are toasty warm.

Taking the description right off their web site http://www.nybg.org/ 

"“All aboard” for the magic of the annual Holiday Train Show! Across the Conservatory stretches a wondrous landscape featuring replicas of more than 100 New York landmarks—from the Statue of Liberty to the Apollo Theater to winter scenes from Central Park—made entirely from plant parts like berries, mushrooms, pinecones, and twigs. Garden-gauge trains and trolleys zip through this charming scene, disappearing into tunnels and crossing bridges high overhead. Set amid evergreens and lights, dotted with waterfalls and mountains, it's a fantastic world sure to enchant the whole family.

New this year: The original, 1923 Yankee Stadium and more Hudson Valley mansions, including Van Cortlandt Manor and the Rockefeller estate Kykuit. 

 

What I would do is plan on seeing this exhibit later in the afternoon. Then go to dinner at what I call the "real" Little Italy of NY on Arthur Avenue across Fordham Road and then walk off dinner at the Bronx Zoo holiday light show as mentioned above.  The NY Botanical Gardens and the Bronx Zoo are a mile away from each other. 



    Click the thumbnail shot to enlarge it.  I was focused on the trains but the buildings around them were just as amazing

 

For questions on this feel free to email tabh@hascorelays.com

Have fun!