Why NYC is the best place on the planet to be for Christmas

Seasons Greetings! 

Is there any place on the planet that does the holiday season better than New York? The original Dutch colonists of the 17th century gave us Santa Claus (Sinterklaas), the German immigrants of the 19th century gave us Christmas markets (christkindlmarkt), and the department stores of the 20th century gave us the round, jolly gift-giver to all the nice children.

These days, arguably the most famous Christmas tree on earth stands 74 feet tall in the heart of Rockefeller Center, illuminated by 50,000 LED lights strung on five miles of wire. Any Christmas movie set in New York City (think Home Alone 2 or Elf) features scenes with the iconic conifer. However, the tree-lighting tradition started in 1931 with humble beginnings.

Ambitious real estate projects largely ground to a halt during the Great Depression, but the Rockefeller family had no problem continuing construction on Rockefeller Center, then the largest private real estate project in history. To mark the holiday, Italian construction workers put up an impromptu 20-foot balsam fir tree decorated with simple tin can ornaments in the early days of the economic crisis. The gesture would turn into the annual tradition we know today. 

Featured NYC experience: Celebrate the holiday season with a tour of the Met

As you can imagine, New York’s greatest house of culture is no stranger to the holiday spirit. For its Christmas tree, the Met assembles a nativity scene using parts collected over decades. Each piece comes from woodshops in 18th-century Naples to bring ancient Bethlehem to life. 

The Met also celebrates Hanukah, with a stunning Hanukiah from 19th century Ukraine. Before World War II, the elaborate silver candelabra featured prominently in a synagogue that would be destroyed during the Holocaust. After the war the Hanukiah reappeared, seemingly out of thin air, at an auction in New York in 1949. How it survived remains one of its great mysteries. 

To create an ideal New York City trip for your group or family, email me at info@ciceronetravel.com. 

Fun Fact: Speaking of Rockefeller Center, a few years after the Christmas tree tradition began, the institution’s greatest work of art was destroyed.

In 1931, Nelson Rockefeller, undeniable capitalist and scion of one of the wealthiest families on earth, commissioned a fresco for the building’s lobby. The painter was the Mexican artist Diego Rivera, a known communist and Soviet sympathizer (and husband to Frida Kahlo). Rivera’s fellow communists chided the artist for selling out, but in an extraordinary act of trolling, he would create Man at the Crossroads, which depicts the struggle between capitalism and communism and features images of Vladimir Lenin. 

As the very embodiment of capitalism, the Rockefellers were not thrilled, taking particular umbrage with the portrait of Lenin, which they asked him to remove. Rivera refused, but offered to add Abraham Lincoln – however, that wasn’t enough to appease the family. The Rockefellers went ahead and destroyed the piece, replacing it with the mural featuring Honest Abe that’s still on view today (below). The image above is a fresco based on the original that Rivera painted in Mexico City’s Opera House, which I had the pleasure of visiting a few years ago. 

What I'm reading: Rick Steves, a giant of the industry, shares his philosophy on the potential for travel to better both ourselves and the world in which live in this expansive interview. 

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Blessed Kwanzaa, and only good things for 2025!

Thanks for reading,

Jonathan Goldstein
Tour Guide and Operator, Cicerone Travel