What is there to do in NYC for Christmas? Much less than other cities. Per its global advertising campaigns, NYC wants you to spend a lot during your visit... and get very little in return. That is typical.
Listening to Christmas music is uplifting and joyful, because this is a joyous time of year. With a breathtaking glow of lights and candles, snapping into the holiday spirit is easy. Belting out our favorite songs, hearing brass and bells, and enjoying momentous scenes are all possible in small town or a big city. Except this big city.
Below, see the city's official guide to Christmas... and notice how it oddly mentions pesticide classes!
It should be no surprise that the capital of corruption, non-caring, graft, and greed lacks Christmas Spirit. It is shocking that so many actors flock to NYC, yet there are SO FEW Christmastime performances. It’s as if they “dry up” in December. In religious terms, most of Manhattan’s theatre owners do not celebrate Christmas.
According to the Actor’s Equity, NYC boasts 18,900+ performers! If you include SAG-AFTRA, it totals 28,900+. We should be awash in toe-tapping musicals, renditions, recitals, concerts, and readings… but we’re not. Having lived in New York for a few decades, I assure you that such a negative phenomenon is nothing new!
According to the Actor’s Equity, NYC boasts 18,900+ performers! If you include SAG-AFTRA, it totals 28,900+. We should be awash in toe-tapping musicals, renditions, recitals, concerts, and readings… but we’re not. Having lived in New York for a few decades, I assure you that such a negative phenomenon is nothing new!
What about our "great centers of learning"? Firstly, you NEVER see NYC school students caroling on the sidewalk, (as seen in other cities)...
Instead, NYC sidewalks resemble this in December.
NYC has hundreds of schools, colleges, universities, and academies. Why are they lacking in holiday performances? Columbia University’s music program was full in December, with things like Radicalism of Jazz Syncopation, Undergraduate Compositions, Sounding Protest & Enacting Resilience. Their only Christmas performance couldn’t be more boring: Tallis Scholars – A Renaissance Christmas, which was ticketed for purchase. Not one free concert, done in the spirit of "giving". Lewis and I attended a Renaissance Christmas at the Metropolitan Museum: it was listless, tepid, solemn, and sad. (Incidentally, the Met considers its single tree to be a highlight of visiting Manhattan. Costing $20 to enter the museum, you can see it...)
Instead, NYC sidewalks resemble this in December.
NYC has hundreds of schools, colleges, universities, and academies. Why are they lacking in holiday performances? Columbia University’s music program was full in December, with things like Radicalism of Jazz Syncopation, Undergraduate Compositions, Sounding Protest & Enacting Resilience. Their only Christmas performance couldn’t be more boring: Tallis Scholars – A Renaissance Christmas, which was ticketed for purchase. Not one free concert, done in the spirit of "giving". Lewis and I attended a Renaissance Christmas at the Metropolitan Museum: it was listless, tepid, solemn, and sad. (Incidentally, the Met considers its single tree to be a highlight of visiting Manhattan. Costing $20 to enter the museum, you can see it...)
Julliard is America’s premiere school of music, so it’s surprising that their December calendar was void of holiday cheer. It was occupied by daily events like Joel Wenhardt playing jazz piano, Nathaniel Silberschlag on French horn, George Meyer on violin, and Astrid Schween’s master class. Absolutely nothing merry from their chamber music group, opera classes, vocal coaches, jazz orchestra, concert orchestra, or historical performers.
What about NYU? It's enormous Asian population is probably Buddhist, but the wealthy university has a great musical arts program that does nothing for Christmas. Since 1925, NYU's Steinhardt Department of Music & Performing Arts handles nearly all of NYU’s music performance programs. Nearly 1,600 students are enrolled, yet nothing flows forth for the holidays.
Unlike orchestras across the country (like the Boston Pops), the historic New York Philharmonic fails to do any Christmas songs. Instead, they overcharge customers to listen to a run-through of the soundtrack to “Home Alone”... for only two nights out of the whole month. Despite the high prices, additional "$25 service charge" and "$7 facility charge", they give a miserly décor for the holidays.
In comparison, look at other symphony orchestras, during this time of year!
Paris
Paris
Vienna
Dallas
Chicago
Let's look back at NYC... the so-called "creative capital" of the world.
You might expect the city’s churches to provide the solution of “giving” some “music for the community”.
Wrong! I canvassed the largest churches, cathedrals, and congregations, and I found their events calendars lacking any caroling. "No scheduled events at this time." Really?! :-(
Wrong! I canvassed the largest churches, cathedrals, and congregations, and I found their events calendars lacking any caroling. "No scheduled events at this time." Really?! :-(
Look at the absence of December events!
From hundreds of churches, only a handful host a "Greening of the Church", where people gather to adorn it with evergreens and have a pot-luck meal. But, those are not musical occasions. Even the famous Little Church Around the Corner had a meager December calendar. From November until January, the only Christmas event was a Candlelight Concert--which they charge $40 for!
Despite its “necessary” $177 million renovation, St. Patrick’s Cathedral (the largest in America) has three organists and a Musical Administrator… yet fails to have any Christmas Concerts. Their website readily asks for more donations and only wants to sell this year’s tree ornament.
Yet, they do not offer any Christmas carols. Here's what their calendar looks like.
Yet, they do not offer any Christmas carols. Here's what their calendar looks like.
Speaking of money-grubbing, Trinity Church Wall Street has an acclaimed choir—with numerous auditions. Their outreach ministry includes Brown Bag Lunches, weekly events called “Catch Your Breath”, Enviornmental Group Justice, a class called “Five Reasons to Meditate”, weekly “Spa for the Sould”, and a series titled “Achieving Racial Equity”.
But, when it comes to Christmas music, aside from a ticketed rendition of Handel's Messiah, they miserably only offer ONE Christmastime performance: a Community Caroling event, and it’s TICKETED for purchase! They don't even welcome their community denizens into the church to sing their hearts out; they charge them for admittance. Typical of Wall Street. Throughout the magical month of December, nothing comes from their Trinity Baroque Orchestra or Downtown Voices club or St. Paul’s Chapel Choir.
St. John the Divine is a humungous 125-year-old church that hosts only ONE event throughout the entire Christmas season: a service of Lessons & Carols... on Christmas Eve (not even on a separate date).
I only found ONE gospel choir: the Harlem Choir performing at the Sony Center on December 23, and they charge for admi$$ion.
I only found ONE gospel choir: the Harlem Choir performing at the Sony Center on December 23, and they charge for admi$$ion.
Another huge one is Riverside Church, whose website immediately asks you for money ("either $5 or $500").
They have an adult choir, inspiration choir, handbell choir, and cherub choir. Yet, they only offer ONE night of caroling in the entire month. What are the choirs for?!!!
The rest of its calendar was empty of Christmas activities and full of things like West Side Women club, Older Wiser Loving Servants club, Moms Groups, and a series called “Considering Christianity”.
The rest of its calendar was empty of Christmas activities and full of things like West Side Women club, Older Wiser Loving Servants club, Moms Groups, and a series called “Considering Christianity”.
Looking to my cozy community of Astoria, I hoped to find a “small town touch” of Christmasy celebration. Apart from late-night bar parties, they only offer a tree lighting ceremony in the park. Instead of the center of the town, its located in the furthest point from the population--isolated by the frigid riverside winds of Astoria Park... in the middle of nowhere! What's wrong with these people?! Years ago, a group of carolers existed in Astoria--but it ceased without future organizers.
Churches in my neighborhood were absolutely void of any Christmas concerts, Lessons & Carols, or caroling. For churches trying to raise money, those are GREAT WAYS… which they typically ignore! All their websites ask for money, but none have a performance to draw a crowd.
Trinity Lutheran Church occupies a handsome stone pre-war building with a historic Steinway piano, an E.M. Skinner organ, a choir, and a handbell choir. None perform at Christmas. Instead, their December activities included "Anointing the Sick", English classes, a series called "Starting Over In Astoria", and a series called "Never Too Young".
Churches in my neighborhood were absolutely void of any Christmas concerts, Lessons & Carols, or caroling. For churches trying to raise money, those are GREAT WAYS… which they typically ignore! All their websites ask for money, but none have a performance to draw a crowd.
Trinity Lutheran Church occupies a handsome stone pre-war building with a historic Steinway piano, an E.M. Skinner organ, a choir, and a handbell choir. None perform at Christmas. Instead, their December activities included "Anointing the Sick", English classes, a series called "Starting Over In Astoria", and a series called "Never Too Young".
The Astoria Choir does only one event during the entire holiday season: Readings & Carols, which they charge $20 per person.
Despite 100+ theaters, NYC notoriously has only 4 theatrical Christmas performances. NYC Ballet’s Nutcracker (its founder, George Balanchine, wrote the works for it). Radio City Rockettes, who infamously resisted interracial dancers for 60 years, who do a repeated kickline in different costumes, and whose profits go to miserly Mr. Rockefeller.
Nutcracker Rouge is a burlesque version in a tiny downtown theatre. Other than that, Manhattan only offers ONE Broadway show with a Christmas-theme. In different years, it was The Grinch, Holiday Inn, or A Christmas Carol. There are no plays, readings, recitals, or pantomimes.
Yes, that was all in one show!
That's not the end for Nashville! They ALSO produce another amazing Christmas spectacular at Massey Concert Hall in Belmont University--full of multi-cultural choirs, glee clubs, soloists, guest stars, and orchestras! Such merriment in one city whose population is only 2 million! (NYC is 9 million).
Meanwhile, back in lackluster NYC, one afternoon of caroling in Union Square is available FOR PURCHASE of $15.00 each! Such is our capitalistic society. It further demands that participants not only RSVP but also go to its Facebook page to confirm! Such convoluted nonsense deters would-be singers.
Caroling in Washington Square occurs ONLY on Christmas Eve (when most people are not available). The same goes for Gramercy Park, which is a private urban garden that opens to the public once a year on Christmas Eve (Gosh, it’s a Christmas miracle). "Unsilent Night" is a boombox event at Washington Square. Everyone “presses play” at the same time and makes the most of the noise.
A marathon reading of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol endures for 3.5 hours at a thrift shop in SoHo. Far away in Jackson Heighs, Queens, they host a winter sing-along. Harry and the Potters Yule Ball is held at a tavern. That sums up the city’s "magic".
Can the always-colorful LGBT community save us? Well, the 260-person Gay Men's Chorus of NYC seems formidable. With a 11-person Board of Directors and 5-person full-time staff, it's surprising how short their Christmas season is. Only 8 performances per year! Only 3 for Christmas!!! Compare that to the smaller Boston Gay Men's Chorus, which hosts 5 two-hour Christmas concerts, in addition to the rest of the year! (Knowing NYC gay men the way we do, they probably can't commit to anything further due to the demands of Grindr and Jack'd).
The Gay Mens Chorus of Washington D.C. also does 3 performances, with half the resources of NYC's. So, I expect more from NYC. Dallas' gay Turtle Creek Chorale does two entirely different Christmas concerts over 3 days. Perhaps their gay men are more committed, as opposed to our Chelsea boys and Hell's Kitchen bears who flee the city for sunnier places to "be their best selves".
Two other LGBT performances stand out: both are odd.
as well as...
The only entities with alluring decorations are the hotels and retail stores that want to lure consumers to overpriced-merchandise & food.
It's worth mentioning what an "uphill battle" it is for us to procure foreign (higher quality) Christmas delicacies. Despite living in a global big city that is full of immigrants, ONLY ONE liquor store sells Advocaat eggnog. Only ONE restaurant serves Glogg, few bakeries bother making real gingerbread, and nowhere can you find Mincemeat pie or Plum Pudding (without glucose-fructose corn syrup, which is banned in the United Kingdom). Those things are readily available in New Jersey, California, Las Vegas, and Boston... but not New York City. Buying them online from overseas adds prohibitive shipping costs.
Speaking of England, St. Thomas Episcopal Church Fifth Avenue derives its heartwarming Christmas traditions from the Anglican Church. They are the only ones with Christmas cheer in abundance.
Would you believe that they are the ONLY church to maintain a full Christmastime calendar?! Hooray! Four advent Sundays of morning mass AND afternoon music, THREE majestic Lessons & Carols services, TWO Christmas Carols performances, a family-oriented Christmas Pageant, organ recitals, daily "festal" evensong, and masses for Christmas Eve (day and midnight), Christmas Day, and Epiphany. Everything is FREE--in the pure sense of goodwill towards mankind at Christmas. They only charge money for concerts of Handel's Messiah and Benjamin Britten carols. They freely share all of their services & performances via webcasts. Celebrating its 100th anniversary, their world-famous Boys Choir School (accompanied by a Chorus of Men, 3 gigantic pipe organs, and a chamber orchestra) keep spirits gaily bright!
Otherwise, the city is barren.
The NYC Botanical Garden (which is not convenient to get to) boasts loudly about its "Holiday Train Show".
Would you believe that they are the ONLY church to maintain a full Christmastime calendar?! Hooray! Four advent Sundays of morning mass AND afternoon music, THREE majestic Lessons & Carols services, TWO Christmas Carols performances, a family-oriented Christmas Pageant, organ recitals, daily "festal" evensong, and masses for Christmas Eve (day and midnight), Christmas Day, and Epiphany. Everything is FREE--in the pure sense of goodwill towards mankind at Christmas. They only charge money for concerts of Handel's Messiah and Benjamin Britten carols. They freely share all of their services & performances via webcasts. Celebrating its 100th anniversary, their world-famous Boys Choir School (accompanied by a Chorus of Men, 3 gigantic pipe organs, and a chamber orchestra) keep spirits gaily bright!
The NYC Botanical Garden (which is not convenient to get to) boasts loudly about its "Holiday Train Show".
It charges $32 per person ($18 per child) for admission, and the outdoor waiting line requires an hour before you enter. Typical of NYC to lure people with false promoting, the train show is overrated and underwhelming. I recall seeing grander model train sets in the cellars of retired men! Despite all of its hoopla and marketing, there are only several train routes.
The real gems of the show are the miniature buildings, made of organic materials.
Initially, they reminded the population about historic structures that were not preserved and were torn down. Now, (and no surprise here), they replicate the city's money-making structures: stadiums, new skyscrapers, and new developments.
Grand Central Terminal has numerous advertisements for its "Holiday Train Show", but they don't actually invest in the miniature trains... which are so few that they easily fit on one table! That is not a "Train Show"; it is a small display. Cheap.
The rest of the enormous train station is meagerly decorated.
Even worse is Pennsylvania Station--full of dusty decorations and homeless bums (since the wealthy rarely invest in homeless shelters).
In bright contrast are images from my friend at Waterloo Station, London's largest commuter station! Amid the hustle and bustle, a choir and brass band played Christmas carols!
The rest of the enormous train station is meagerly decorated.
Even worse is Pennsylvania Station--full of dusty decorations and homeless bums (since the wealthy rarely invest in homeless shelters).
In bright contrast are images from my friend at Waterloo Station, London's largest commuter station! Amid the hustle and bustle, a choir and brass band played Christmas carols!
Walking through London in December, it’s normal to hear the sounds of carols sung in the streets or shops… often small groups raising money for charity. It can be a magical experience, when the snow falls and lights shine. The city officially lists 2 days of caroling in Trafalgar Square, 11 days at Royal Albert Hall, 2 days at St. Paul’s Cathedral, and 23 days of concerts and musical series at Westminster Abbey. “Other Christmas Carol Events” occur at Southwark Cathedral, Hampton Court, St. Martin in the Fields, Covent Garden, Cadogan Hall, Canary Wharf, and the Royal Air force Museum. LOVELY!!! Beyond that, the British are known for Pantomime Christmas performances; 13 theatres host different kinds.
Furthermore, their “best Christmas lights” are worth seeing on:
Furthermore, their “best Christmas lights” are worth seeing on:
Caranby Street
Bond Street
Covent Garden
Regent Street
Oxford Street
Seven Dials neighborhood
Duke of York Square
Also admire the Russian sights near the Kremlin walls in Moscow.
Admire the Winter Lights in Japanese cities at Christmastime.
Compare that to NYC's most fashionable and expensive areas:
Fifth Avenue--the "shopping mecca" is purely dismal during Christmas, with a singular snowflake to brighten its 6 miles!!!
If you include the cruddy steam vents (in the middle of the streets), their vapors might add some illumination. Ha ha!
Sixth Avenue (facing downtown to Rockefeller Center)
Seventh Avenue
Madison Avenue
Seen above, there's nothing festive at the city's largest train station (unlike the ones in Amsterdam, London, Rome... or even Strasbourg!). Upper Madison Avenue is equally dreary.
Lexington Avenue
14th Street
Seen above, there's nothing festive at the city's largest train station (unlike the ones in Amsterdam, London, Rome... or even Strasbourg!). Upper Madison Avenue is equally dreary.
Lexington Avenue
SoHo
Chinatown has decorations that it shares with Little Italy, but that neighborhood is sadly infamously filthy.
Park Avenue--the nation's richest neighborhood--hasn't improved its meager decorations since the 1940s! Heartless.
Oblivious to how much nicer other cities are, throngs seem content to look at store windows: the only brightness.
Our city's most-famous Christmas tree is secluded behind a wall of concrete, in a tightly-packed commercial center owned by the Rockefeller family. It's the worst place to put a tree because it cannot be easily accessed. You cannot see the tree from Sixth Ave., and you can only catch a glimpse of it for two seconds on Fifth Ave.
It's surrounded by greasy, smoky, cheap food trucks.
Meanwhile, thousands of the city's residents still live behind metal bars--like self-made cages or prisons--due to their fears of crime (thanks to an overpaid yet uncaring police force).
The city's overpaid Sanitation Dept does a poor job at keeping the pavement clear. Merry Christmas!
'Tis the season to spread love, hope, and festive fun. Thus, like early celebrants of the Bronze Age, we huddle together in our homes to keep the spirit alive in a soulless city. Such is the glory of this season in New York City.
Go here to learn about NYC's 3 power explosions for this year:
Four days after the snow stopped, I photographed main intersections in my busy area of Astoria. None were properly shoveled, and treacherous slush remained at every crosswalk. Imagine carrying your groceries through that, or going to work...
It looks the same in midtown Manhattan, the upscale Upper West Side, the trendy Lower West Side, expensive SoHo, and pricey Tribeca. It is terrible for office workers, delivery men, tourists, commuters, and students. All over the city and its five boroughs, negligent sanitation workers let snow cover the garbage that their colleagues must eventually remove.
When that ignored snow melts or catches rain, it creates flood-like pools of water that the city expects its citizens to cross.
Here is a typical photograph of the badly-shoveled sidewalk at the biggest subway station in my highly-populated neighborhood. The picture was taken THREE DAYS after the snowfall... yet the pavement is still not shoveled. Overpaid yet uncaring Transit workers only cleared a tiny path through the snow... for hundreds of daily commuters, bus riders, and subway passengers to share. It's disgusting.
Neither the stairs nor the walkway are fully cleared. It shows how they didn't care enough to actually clear all of the snow. Those steps get fully crowded during Rush Hour, and it's dangerous.
Did they not have the time to remove all of the snow?
Neglected snow remained in front of the train ticket machine. Such things are inexcusable for such an expensive transit system in the wealthiest "big city" in the USA.
Equally overpaid/corrupt MTA workers ensure that the subways are unreliable, delayed, filthy, and occupied by homeless people and vagrants who shout for money. On weekends, trains run on alternate tracks and skip stops (due to unending "maintenance"). Don't use public transpiration if you need to get somewhere on time.
Instead of a Santa Claus on every corner, there is garbage...
...or smoky pipes for the city's stubbornly antiquated steam system.
Such are the "true colors" of the Manhattan. It wants your holiday-time money but doesn't give a damn about your experience.
'Tis the season to spread love, hope, and festive fun. Thus, like early celebrants of the Bronze Age, we huddle together in our homes to keep the spirit alive in a soulless city. Such is the glory of this season in New York City.
Go here to learn about NYC's 3 power explosions for this year:
https://halfwindsorfullthrottle.blogspot.com/2018/12/expolsions.html
*To see New Year's celebrated around the world, please go here:
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