Good morning on this cooling Thursday.
The thousands of revelers who packed into Rockefeller Center last night for the annual Christmas tree lighting brought to mind another holiday tradition here in the city: massive crowds.
’Tis the season for long lines, cramped sidewalks and sardined subway cars.
But hordes of tourists are no reason to miss out on the cheer. Seeking a less congested holidays, we spoke to owners and employees of popular attractions for advice on how to best avoid the masses.
Macy’s Santa. For the first time ever, St. Nick is taking reservations. You can hold a spot in line from 30 minutes to five days ahead of time. Santa’s little helpers can still accommodate walk-ins, but visit Monday through Thursday for the shortest lines, said Susan Tercero, Macy’s vice president of branded entertainment. And if you can, dash over soon. “The closer we get to Christmas, the busier Santa gets,” she said.
Ice Skating. The Rink at Rockefeller Center is typically packed during the holidays, said Carol Olsen, director of the skating rink. Expect to wait up to 90 minutes for your chance on the ice. The only reliably crowd-free moments, she said, are between 8:30 and 10 a.m., when you can still expect 50 to 75 people skating alongside you. For less crowded rinks, try weekday mornings or evenings at The Rink at Bryant Park in Midtown, LeFrak Center at Lakeside in Prospect Park, or The Rink at Brookfield Place in Lower Manhattan.
Holiday Windows. The creative directors behind retail holiday windows are split on the least trafficked times to go: at sunrise or after sunset. “It’s quiet and darker at sunrise,” said Richard Moore of Tiffany’s. “Early morning allows you to spend a few minutes alone to take it all in.” But Matthew Mazzucca of Barneys New York prefers visiting in the evening, before 7 p.m. “There is time to hear the custom audio composition,” he said, “and it’s still dark so the light levels are perfect.”
Continue reading the main storyMuseums. If you’re planning on visiting one of the big four museums (the Met, MoMA, the Whitney and the American Museum of Natural History), plan on going before the doors open, or during the extended hours on Friday or Saturday. When visiting the Met, enter at the 81st Street entrance, where there are fewer people and the line is faster, said Annie Bailis, the museum’s senior manager of media relations. And here’s a tip: Instead of squeezing next to your neighbors at the next holiday tree lighting, the Met has tree lighting ceremonies with Christmas music every day.
Finally, perhaps the best piece of advice was one we heard from across all industries: Avoid events the week of Christmas and New Year’s, when school is out and crowds and tourists are at their peak.
Here’s what else is happening:
Weather
° ° °Embedding among the warm, huddled masses might actually feel nice today.
It’s nippy again, and breezy.
The high should be above 50, but wind chill will make it feel colder.
In the News
• The NYC Ferry service has been serving more riders than expected, luring commuters from the delay-plagued subway. [New York Times]
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• An upstate assemblyman has been disciplined for sexual harassment after an investigation found that he had asked a female staff member for naked pictures. [New York Times]
• A restaurateur worked to uncover the history behind the 90-year-old steakhouse Gallaghers, once a hangout for gangsters and Broadway stars. [New York Times]
• As Mayor Bill de Blasio shuffles his administration for his second term, the first deputy mayor, Anthony Shorris, announced that he would be leaving City Hall. [New York Times]
• The sphere sculpture that emerged from the ruins of the Sept. 11 attacks is finally being welcomed back to the Lower Manhattan site. [New York Times]
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• Representative Lee Zeldin of Long Island voted against a Republican tax bill. Not long after, the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, pulled out of his fund-raiser. [New York Times]
• The number of write-in votes, a sort-of protest to the listed candidates, soared far higher this year than in recent mayoral elections. [New York Times]
• A Washington correspondent from a provocative conservative website was arrested at the University of Connecticut after he appeared to grab a woman during a speech. [New York Times]
• The New York Times’s executive editor, Dean Baquet, sat down with the rapper Jay-Z for a conversation ranging from the state of hip-hop to being a black man in President Trump’s America. [New York Times]
• The New York Police Department released body camera footage of the fatal shooting of a man who stabbed two guards in a home for the mentally ill in the Bronx. [New York Daily News]
• A Brooklyn city councilman is planning to introduce a bill that would require the city to provide diapers to child care centers and other government facilities. [New York Post]
• A young girl who underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor faced adversities other than her health issues, but her future is now looking bright. [New York Times]
• Today’s Metropolitan Diary: “Forest Hills Librarian”
• For a global look at what’s happening, see Your Morning Briefing.
Coming Up Today
• Ice carving demonstrations and carols are part of the tree lighting ceremony in Central Park near 110th Street. 5:30 p.m. [Free]
• An exhibition, “Let There Be Light,” features more than 150 menorahs collected by one family, at the Museum at Eldridge Street on the Lower East Side. 6 p.m. [Pay what you wish]
• A discussion with historians and authors, “Elite Northern Colleges and Their Ties to Slavery,” at the Brooklyn Historical Society in Brooklyn Heights. 6:30 p.m. [$10]
• A light and sound performance, “Crossing the Lagrangian Point,” at the Knockdown Center in Maspeth, Queens. 7 p.m. [$10]
• Alternate-side parking remains in effect until Dec. 8.
• For more events, see The New York Times’s Arts & Entertainment guide.
And Finally …
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If you’re planning on taking a trip on an overstuffed subway car this month, you might as well make it a memorable one.
The New York City Transit Museum and the M.T.A. are offering rides on vintage subway cars on Sundays during the holidays.
The eight subway cars (on a single train) were built during the 1930s and ’40s, complete with copies of old advertisements promoting Fleet Week, NATO and a quart of liquor for 99 cents.
The man who oversees the operation of the nostalgic rides is Bill Wall, train services supervisor for the New York City Transit Authority.
He keeps the cars at rail yards or in the Transit Museum during the year, he said, where he’ll “fire them up once a month and move them around to keep them alive.”
The old cars are pulled out of the museum, which is attached to the A line, and fully serviced before they’re sent out onto the unforgiving city tracks.
We asked Mr. Wall what he likes most about riding in the old subway cars.
“Soft seats, that’s the big one,” he said. But he’s noticed that others really enjoy the sound.
“Even though it’s loud, it’s very much a different drone,” he said, comparing it to a World War II bomber flying overhead. “With the sound and the softer seats, a lot of people fall asleep in it.”
The cars run on the F line between the Second Avenue station and Lexington Avenue-63rd Street, and on the Q line between Lexington Avenue-63rd Street and 96th Street.
The schedule can be found here.
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