NYC -Christmas or New year

Hi there ! I’ve been to New York in the Christmas season , mid December and it was lovely ! The famous tree was up and the decorations all over the city especially the big department stores are stunning ! Although I haven’t been at new years I had friends who did and it was a terrible experience . The amount of crowds that gather, basically they couldn’t move on the streets, find cabs, eat anywhere without a wait . So my advice Go in December!

Me too December in NYC is special I have been quite a few times during that time. Great for shopping (tho pound is rubbish atm)
Weekends are really busy as you would expect but Mon - Friday are fine. I have never done New Year, my chum did once, very busy and Snowed in.
Weather in December can be Tee shirt weather or freezing, I have had both.
I'm going end of March this year, last time I went during that time, it was really hot.
Enjoy.

We went to New York in December '22. While we were there they had the annual switch on of the lights on the Rockefella tree. We went to the Christmas show at the Radio City Music Hall and to the ballet Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker.
We stayed at the Riu Plaza Hotel which is just a couple of blocks from Times Square. I can highly recommend it. This photo is the hotel lobby.

By the way, the weather was similar to home. About 6-8°c with a couple of rainy days.

Just got back from the coldest Christmas on record in New York for 150 years - down to -11 which felt like -22! A bit too cold to be out all the time, but we made the best of it😂.
Fabulous lights and things to see/do free of charge - watching the skaters at Bryant Park/Rockefella Centre and most ‘squares’ have 🎄Markets. Saks 5th Avenue windows are a must see. However, I’d give a wide berth to Times Square at most times - it’s absolutely manic. Have stayed in a dozen different Hotels over the years - best was Lotte Palace, just a block behind 5th Avenue - the price was unbelievable and I feared I’d just booked for myself and not included DD2!
Make sure you book a Christmas lunch somewhere - we’d done it from here, although people popping in to the restaurant on the ‘off chance’ of a table were happy to wait more than 2 hours. We’d been to the Central Park Zoo on Christmas morning - then a walk across the park afterwards and with a wheelchair and pushchair, we’d used the subway with no problems, other than having to use accessible stations - DD2 and her DH have been dozens (40ish) of times, so they know their way around very well. In fact SiL is off there again next Monday.

MiniMoon and Gg etc, that sounds amazing, I've never beenvyo NY though DH has gone a few trips.
When is the tree and all the lights actually up and running? I think I'd rather go at the end of November, early December?

I believe the tree lighting ceremony is just after Thanksgiving at the end of November. DD1 and I were trying to take a shortcut past it one year and had to give up, as the crowds were just enormous - people had been gathering all day!

It was Baltic!

DH and I were there from 29th November to 3rd December as part of a Christmas Fairytale in New York holiday with a transatlantic crossing on Queen Mary 2.
The Rockefella tree lights switch on was on 30th November. We walked past that morning as they were putting the finishing touches to it, and we watched the switch on, on the TV in our hotel room.
We enjoyed afternoon tea at the Plaza and a walk along 5th Avenue. It was something we will probably never do again, and completely magical.

I just remember being in NY in the winter and it was freezing cold. I've never felt so cold.

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