Manhattan for Christmas

limpdd

Hi,
My fiancee and I are thinking of going to Manhattan over Christmas, it will be our honeymoon , I was just wondering if anyone here has been to NYC at that time of year and if they would recommend it.
I'm expecting it to be very cold, probably below freezing, but I'm curious as to whether it leads to closures or much travel disruption?
Also any general tips for Manhattan at Christmas would be good

Thanks in advance,
David.

iusedtoknow

limpdd wrote: »

Hi,
My fiancee and I are thinking of going to Manhattan over Christmas, it will be our honeymoon , I was just wondering if anyone here has been to NYC at that time of year and if they would recommend it.
I'm expecting it to be very cold, probably below freezing, but I'm curious as to whether it leads to closures or much travel disruption?
Also any general tips for Manhattan at Christmas would be good

Thanks in advance,
David.

I would recommend going just before christmas for the atmosphere. One of the weird things in the US is that the 26th is pretty much business as usual until NYE. Any of the atmosphere is in the lead up - mostly because there are a number of other holidays as well (hanukkah etc).

I've been in NY 2 christmases - one was bitterly cold and snowy, but beautiful. The thing is though, I was staying with friends so we mostly hung out in their apartment and went out only when we needed to replenish food/drinks. The other christmas was clear and crisp - still bitterly cold but manageable, and no snow - a lot of long walks, punctuated with warm drinks and museums.

The weather will be cold, that is all you can really guarantee. A big storm could roll in and strand you for a few days, or it may not. You can only keep an eye on those sort of things when you're close to coming. The normal weather (snow etc) doesn't lead to much delay, but the big storms/blizzards do. They can't be forecast more than a couple days out.

biddywiddy

I was in NYC for three days last January (3-6). Also honeymoon!

It poured rain the day we arrived. The next day was rainy, but relatively mild and pleasant out in between showers. The next day was absolutely freezing. Really cold. The wind was biting. We live in Michigan, so had an idea of what to expect, but it was pretty miserable, to be honest. We went down to see the new World Trade area, walked about a bit and then retreated to the hotel. It was snowing heavily on our way the airport the next morning.

We flew to the Caribbean then, and wished we had skipped NYC and just gone straight to summer!

ProudDUB

OP, going to NYC to see the Xmas lights and sights, is probably the most asked about topic in this forum. If you search back over some older pages, you should find a treasure trove of info about NY in December, from weather advise, to places to stay, to ice skating at Rockerfeller Center etc etc.

JohnMearsheimer

Myself and my girlfriend were in NYC in December 2014. It was cold but it wasn't too bad. It snowed one of the days but not very heavily. I was there in December 2000 as well and it was bitterly cold with lots of snow. Just bring some jumpers, a good coat and a hat/scarf and ye should be fine.

Some of the more Christmas related things we did...we went to the the Rockefeller Centre to see the big Christmas tree, checked out the lights on 5th Avenue, went to the various Christmas markets around the city, went to the Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall.

Atlantic Dawn

If you have never been in Manhattan before I would go somewhere else.

cena

You have to see Santa in macys. They take a photo of you with the man which you can buy or they well use your phone, camera to take the photo. .

I went over for Thanksgiving last year and spent 3 weeks there. Weather was fine.

Munstermissy

I went after Christmas last year, arrived on 27th to bright sunshine about 10 degrees. A lot of tourists in for New Years Eve so crowds and lines everywhere but to be expected. Got progressively colder each day but wrapped up well. We got lucky with the weather. Good buzz around. Would recommend it.

InTheTrees

I was reading a story about how FAO Schwarz is closing its store on 5th Avenue. Pretty sad.

cena

InTheTrees wrote: »

I was reading a story about how FAO Schwarz is closing its store on 5th Avenue. Pretty sad.

Ya closing during the summer

CaliforniaDream

InTheTrees wrote: »

I was reading a story about how FAO Schwarz is closing its store on 5th Avenue. Pretty sad.

It's closing in July but not for good. It's relocating in Manhattan due to high rents being charged where it is now.

coylemj

InTheTrees wrote: »

I was reading a story about how FAO Schwarz is closing its store on 5th Avenue. Pretty sad.

The queues outside at Thanksgiving used to be mental so I'd say they didn't need such a prominent location, they could go somewhere else like midtown, pay lower rents and they'll still have the queues.

iusedtoknow

InTheTrees wrote: »

I was reading a story about how FAO Schwarz is closing its store on 5th Avenue. Pretty sad.

While it is kind of sad , it's only been in that location 1986. There is a lot of hand wringing about it, when the reality is that they didn't keep up with the times, and it's only "iconic" as they paid for it to be in a movie 2 years after it opened (and now I am going to have the Big music in my head the rest of the day). And let's face it - the company is owned by Toys'r'us anyway.

That is just the cynic in me though.

yew_tree

Toys r us are also moving from their Times Square location in 2016.

cena

yew_tree wrote: »

Toys r us are also moving from their Times Square location in 2016.

Any link to that?

jaymcg91

It's commonly known that Toys R Us is moving because the rents are astronomical in Times Square.

http://commercialobserver.com/2015/03/toys-r-us-officially-leaving-flagship-times-square-location/