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Where to Celebrate New Year’s Eve in New York City

Everyone needs some laughs this year and starting off the New Year with a smile sounds like a very good thing.

The place to be in NYC is Caroline’s, where headliners routinely let their comic superpower loose, and on New Year’s Eve, it’s one big laughfest. The late show at 10pm carries into the wee hours after you watch the Ball Drop live on their TVs and 10-foot screen.  It’s close enough to Times Square to let you sense the excitement without being in the middle of the crowds, a nice benefit. 1626 Broadway. http://bit.ly/2pOlMNu

Near enough to view the light show and the Ball Drop if you choose to head outside, two restaurants offer special evening meals.

A favorite of the Broadway community, Bond 45 New York Italian Kitchen and Bar — in its new 46th Street location — invites guests to ring in 2018 with a seven-course prix fixe menu, live music, Champagne toast and party favors. Or celebrate like a Tony Award winner with a seven-course dinner, a bottle of Champagne and a private escort to view the LIVE Ball Drop from the heart of Times Square.  221 West 46th Street. https://www.bond45ny.com/

In the mood for a Chinese feast instead? Hakkasan New York also sits to the west of Times Square and is offering  a six-course festive meal with luxurious twists on Cantonese favorites such as scallop shumai, roasted duck with truffle dumpling, braised abalone salad and stir-fry Boston lobster with black pepper and honey. 311 West 43rd Street. http://hakkasan.com/locations/hakkasan-new-york/

Tradition and nostalgia rule on New Year’s Eve at several beloved locations.

The Palm Court’s Black Tie affair is an annual glamour-fest in the iconic restaurant at The Plaza with dancing, raw bar, dinner buffet and craft cocktails recalling days of Trader Vic’s. Black tie required. Fifth Avenue at Central Park South. http://www.theplazany.com/dining/the-palm-court/.

Perrine at the Taj Pierre is equally glamorous with a balloon drop and a Champagne aerialist highlighting the New Year’s celebration. The restaurant will serve a five-course menu, with a musical trio accompaniment. Dancing follows in The Rotunda into the New Year with the Antonio Ciacca Orchestra playing Big Band standards as well as contemporary favorites. 2 East 61st Street.  http://www.perrinenyc.com/

Located in the middle of Times Square, The Edison Ballroom revisits the days of the Fitzgerald’s, flappers and the heyday of jazz with a gala night of dinner and dancing. Show off your jitterbug and foxtrot moves surrounded by New York opulence and musical stylings provided by Joe Battaglia and the New York Big Band. 240 West 47th Street.  http://edisonballroom.com/new-years-2018/

New York City also offers a choice of parties so you can bring out your inner actor and enjoy some crazy entertainment at a range of prices.

Dinner runs into the party at Bedford & Co in the Renwick Hotel with a special prix fixe menu and a Masquerade Ball. Late night festivities also include passed canapes, specialty cocktails and dancing to DJ tunes. Various packages and prices are available. 118 East 40th Street. www.bedfordandco.com. Masquerade Ball tickets at http://bit.ly/2zZtdVN

Modern Mediterranean restaurant Green Fig will ring in the New Year with The Brothel Carnivale, a lavish party with a five-course dinner, hors d’oeuvres, dancing and open bar. Entertainment is non-stop with Burlesque performers, sword swallowers and giant boa constrictors. 570 10th Avenue. http://www.onfournyc.com/new-years-eve.html

Befitting the melting pot that is New York City, several restaurants show off New Year’s Eve traditions from around the world.

Socarrat is offering a special tasting menu for the evening, featuring their acclaimed paella and tapas, with sangria, beer and an open bar. Guests will celebrate New Year’s in the Spanish tradition with a Cava toast and the eating of 12 Lucky Grapes. At midnight, each guest will receive 12 grapes, one for every month. At each clock stroke, celebrants eat the grapes which are said to bring good fortune throughout the new year. 259 West 19th Street, 284 Mulberry Street, 953 Second Avenue. https://www.socarratnyc.com/

Greek steakhouse Merakia rings in the New Year with a prix fixe dinner and a Greek ceremony of the cutting of the cake at midnight. On New Year’s Eve, families cut the Vasilopita (bread or cake), hoping to find the hidden coin inside to bless the house and bring good luck. If you’re the lucky person who orders the chocolate lava cake and finds the lucky coin, your meal is free. 5 West 21st Street. https://merakia.com

At recently opened Shuka, it’s a Night in Marrakech with a Feast Menu of mezze plates, dips and kebabs. To welcome the New Year, entertainment will be provided a la Mediterranean  including Glenda’s Gypsy Palm Readings (from Employees Only) and Salit the Belly Dancer.  38 MacDougal Street.  https://www.shukanewyork.com/

And what would New Year’s Eve in a city of skyscrapers be if it didn’t offer the chance to view the celebration from high above.

Rooftop lounge Bar 54 hosts a New Year’s Eve celebration with an exclusive live viewing of the world famous Ball Drop. Located on the 54th floor of Hyatt Centric Times Square, Bar 54 kicks off the evening with an indoor party with open bar, passed hors d’oeuvres, with guests moving outdoors to view the Ball Drop on the bar’s terrace with a Champagne toast in hand. 135 West 45th Street. https://timessquare.centric.hyatt.com/en/hotel/dining/bar-54.html Tickets at http://bit.ly/2gkhvdT .

Right in the heart of Times Square, the New York Marriott Marquis lets guests take advantage of its premier location with a five-course dinner, unlimited premium open bar and entertainment at The View Restaurant & Lounge on the 47th and 48th floors, with 360-degree views revolving completely every hour and overlooking Times Square.  1535 Broadway. https://www.theviewnyc.com/new-years-eve/

How about a view of the Statue of Liberty and the fireworks downtown instead of the Ball Drop at Times Square?

Conrad New York invites you to a downtown celebration with a view. Begin the celebration with open bar and canapes at ATRIO Wine Bar and Restaurant, followed by a four-course prix fixe dinner accompanied by tunes by a live DJ. Just before the end of 2017, guests will head to Loopy Doopy, the 16th-story rooftop bar, for a Champagne toast with views of the Statue of Liberty and fireworks along the Hudson River. 102 North End Avenue. http://www.conradnewyork.com/

Cruise into the New Year on board Hudson’s at Pier 81 for a music-filled, open-bar celebration in the middle of the Manhattan Harbor under the fireworks in the presence of the Statue of Liberty. Pier 81, 12th Avenue and West 41st Street.  https://hudsonsnyc.com/offers-events/new-years-eve/

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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New Year’s Eve Fun in New York – Brooklyn and Manhattan edition

If you don’t mind being in the cold, New York City’s outdoors New Year’s Eve festivities are pretty cool.

Take a look at some of these happening in Brooklyn and Manhattan.  Be prepared for long security check-in lines, dress warmly and leave your large bags at home. A flask filled with your favorite libation should suffice to keep you warm!

Coney Island USA will host its 4th annual NYE celebration in Steeplechase Plaza with a fireworks display from the historic Parachute Jump. Select boardwalk restaurants and attractions will be open, including B&B Carousel, Deno’s Wonder Wheel  (just like in Woody Allen ‘s 2017 movie Wonder Wheel) and the Thunderbolt roller coaster. A digital burst ball drop rings in 2018, followed by a Circus Sideshow Fire Spectacular at 1am http://www.coneyisland.com/event/newyearseve2017

Celebrating its 20th year, the Time’s Up New Year’s Eve Bike Ride & Afterparty will reverse direction, going downtown instead of uptown, and ending at an indoor dance party. If you’re in Manhattan, start the ride at the park in front of the Plaza Hotel at 59th Street and 5th Avenue at 9:30pm, or join in at Madison Square Park, 23rd Street and Broadway at 10pm. Brooklynites can start their ride at the Brooklyn-side entrance to the Williamsburg Bridge at 9:30pm to ride into Manhattan.  End point is the party at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space in the East Village, 155 Avenue C.   Free valet bike parking.  http://times-up.org./node/1861/1514773800/event

The Empire State Building will ring in 2018 with a festive, multicolored LED confetti lighting on Dec 31, 2017. Five minutes before midnight, the building will switch to its signature white lights, sparkling in the New Year through sunrise on January 1, 2018. For a great view, stand by the Little Church around the Corner, 1 East 29th St. and look up. If you’re curious about future Empire State Building lights, view the schedule at http://www.esbnyc.com/explore/tower-lights/calendar.

Runners can lace up for the four-mile NYRR Midnight Run in Central Park on NYE. After going through security via entrances at West 72nd Street and Central Park West or East 72nd Street and Fifth Avenue, registered runners and their +1 will gather at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park. Kicking off at 10pm, the race (to which many wear costumes) will conclude by midnight with a spectacular fireworks display at its completion.. http://www.nyrr.org/races-and-events/2017/nyrr-midnight-run

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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New Year’s Day Fun in New York City

The evening’s festivities are over; here are some activities to consider for the first day of 2018.

Are you a daredevil?  The weather promises to be freezing on New Year’s Day, but that doesn’t deter these folks from plunging into the icy cold water at Coney Island in Brooklyn. The Coney Island Polar Bear Club New Year’s Day Plunge is free with and begins at 1pm at the Stillwell Avenue boardwalk entrance. Participants get free admission to the New York Aquarium and a post-dip warm up at Coney Island Brewing Company and Steeplechase Beer Garden. A $25 donation is suggested to benefit local Coney Island organizations including the New York Aquarium and the Alliance for Coney Island.

Train lovers still have time to catch the annual Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx where model trains travel through a miniature landscape of 150+ iconic city structures. This year’s version spotlights Midtown Manhattan, with a new Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, General Electric Building and more on view through January 15. Advance reservations are strongly recommended as tickets do sell out. https://www.nybg.org/event/holiday-train-show/.

In Queens, the 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic®—hockey’s highest profile regular-season game—will be held at Citi Field on New Year’s Day.  January 1, 2018 will mark the first time the game is held in New York City. Even if you don’t have a ticket, there will still be fun activities outside of the stadium starting at 9am including a DJ, giveaways, refreshments and more.

If you plan to ice skate at Rockefeller Center, 5th Avenue between 49t5h and 50th streets, here’s what you need to know to book a reservations through VIP igloo if you’d like to avoid the lines and also get complimentary skate rentals (although general admission does not require a reservation.)  https://therinkatrockcenter.com/vip-skate-rink-reservations https://therinkatrockcenter.com/reservations.  Hours are 8:30am until midnight daily.

Warm up after with Maison du Chocolat’s fabulously, thick and perfectly sweet chocolat at 30 Rockefeller Plaza and also on the Upper East Side at 1018 Madison Avenue. http://www.lamaisonduchocolat.us/en_us/ Or at Jacques Torres, aka Mr. Chocolate, also at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. http://www.mrchocolate.com/

And no matter where or what the New Year’s celebrations have been, the potato powered FryGuys, www.fryguysnyc.com will be ready to soothe your hunger or hangover  with their new boat load of OG twice fried frys, topped with scrambled eggs, bacon an cheese, then crowned with a fried egg and fried chicken. Dubbed the Brunch so Hard, this will satisfy your hunger as you enter the New Year.  FryGuys, 150 2nd St.

For more NYC info, check out https://www.nycgo.com/.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Celebrate Christmas in NYC with the Holiday Train Show, Department Store Windows and Santa Claus

It’s almost Christmas in New York City — well, not really. But Christmas festivities and sales start earlier and earlier each year and decorations are popping up all over the city.

Here are three don’t-miss activities to consider:

Credit: AP Photo/Julio Cortez

This year, you’ll have to do a bit more planning if your children hope to sit on Santa Claus’s lap.  Macy’s wants to make the process more efficient and handle the huge number of people lining up to visit Saint Nick. Santa makes his appearance at “the world’s largest department store” from Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve, but you’ll need to reserve online to get a spot. Starting just before Thanksgiving, you can book a spot at Macy’s Santa Land at Macy’s Herald Square, 8th floor, at https://www.macys.com/social/santa-land/. No walk-ins are allowed, so don’t delay. Spots will go quickly, particularly after the ads sure to come during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade on Thursday. 151 West 34th Street, Manhattan.

Holiday windows are starting to appear all over the city. Now is the perfect time to visit before the mad Christmas rush.  Particularly appealing, Bergdorf Goodman’s “To New York with Love” windows showcase some of New York City’s most iconic places this year, including the New York Botanical Gardens, the Museum of the Moving Image, the New York Historical Society Museum & Library, the American Museum of Natural History, and the New York Philharmonic. www.bergdorfgoodman.com, 754 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan. Look for others at Saks Fifth Avenue (“Once upon a Holiday”), Barney’s New York (“Hass for the Holidays”), Bloomingdale’s (“The Greatest Showman”), Lord  & Taylor (“The Best and the Brightest”), and Macy’s Herald Square (“The Perfect Gift Brings People Together”).

The 16th annual Holiday Train Show at Grand Central Terminal is brought to you by the New York Transit Museum.  A favorite among children of all ages (and their parents), the show includes movement, lights, sound and color and gets increasingly crowded as shoppers throng the major transit hub closer to Christmas. In the exhibit, model trains travel through tunnels, from subway stop to subway stop, and around skyscrapers as they meander through New York City locations. The show is free and runs from 6am-8pm, through February 4, 2018. 89 East 42nd Street, Manhattan. http://www.grandcentralterminal.com/event/holiday-train-show/

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Dale Chihuly Exhibit at New York Botanical Garden: Now through October 29

Glass artist Dale Chihuly has taken over the New York Botanical Garden once again. With his new exhibit designed to complement the Botanical Garden’s landscape and architecture, Chihuly again shows his masterful use of color and material with glass sculptures intermingled among plants, near trees, and adjacent to buildings.

On exhibit outdoors through October 29, the myriad glass sculptures transform into neon spectacles at night. This is Dale Chihuly’s first outdoor exhibit in New York in a decade and one which you shouldn’t miss.  Twenty pieces including a greenish yellow tree, tangles of colored neon, and red logs are scattered among the 250 acres of the gardens, looking perfectly in place against the foliage and flowers. Overhead, hanging chandeliers, a Chihuly signature, fascinate with their twists and curls.

Also displayed (indoors) are sketches from earlier in Chihuly’s career as well as some of his earlier art glass pieces.

For an artist as familiar as Dale Chihuly has become (his pieces are in hotels worldwide, in office buildings, and a permanent part of the NYBG collection), it’s a revelation to see these works sited outdoors, glass that’s impervious to the elements and makes a statement of color and design along the paths of green that fill the gardens.

Before the end of the month, the leaves will begin to turn, undoubtedly creating another feeling and expression of the art.  See the pieces now when everything is pure green, but definitely return by month’s end both to witness the change in environment and to bid a fond farewell to a beautiful exhibit.

Dining Tip: Enjoy a diverse and creative menu of paninis, pizzas, salads and desserts among the trees at the Pine Tree Café at the NYBG.  https://www.nybg.org/visit/dining/pine-tree-cafe/

New York Botanical Garden, https://www.nybg.org , 2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY, 718-817-8700. Tickets start at $23 for adults and vary by day.  Closed on Monday except for Columbus Day.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Oh My Fellow Droogies, This Is a Show for You: A Clockwork Orange Opens Off-Broadway

If you remember seeing the 1971 Stanley Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange and might have possibly read Anthony Burgess’s chilling version of a dystopian society in England, this play should be on your must-view list. You’ll completely understand the plot and be enthralled by the energetic, theatrical treatment given it Off-Broadway at the New World Stages.  If you’re a newbie to the story, you might want to grab a copy of Burgess’s landmark book with its glossary in the back pages and read a bit to prepare you for the play. The experience is somewhat like seeing a Shakespearean play for the first time: it takes you a while to understand what’s being spoken and to follow the story line.

Photo By: Caitlin McNaney

Little Alex and his band of delinquents are committing mayhem throughout England, responsible for a good deal of the “ultra-violence” so prevalent during this time period. In the movie, the establishing shots occur over a much longer time frame than in the play, making it easier to understand the underlying threat to society that this gang poses.  Here, the set-up is quick, and the ensuing events are also fairly quick. The general result is clear, but it will take some paying attention to follow.

Additionally, Burgess has created his own language for droogies Alex, Dim, Georgie and Billy Boy. It’s a mix of Russian and English, morphed into words that Alex frequently uses as verbs, nouns, and situational descriptors. That’s where having some familiarity with the book’s glossary is useful. I speak Russian and could figure out what the words meant, but they will sound like gibberish to most.

Photo By: Caitlin McNaney

The comparisons between the movie and the show are notable, with some exceptions. This version, brought over by director Alexandra Spencer-Jones of London, is even more stylized than the movie (which was already visually arresting and somewhat surreal).  In another creative digression from the movie, the all-male cast takes turns playing various roles, including some female ones, cued by a piece of clothing or a pair of shoes, for instance. Again, concentration is needed to follow these changes and to understand the role of music in the storyline.

Alex is played by a British actor, Jonno Davies, with a background in Shakespeare at London’s West End. Others in the cast hail from the US and include Broadway veterans Matt Doyle (The Book of Mormon, War Horse, Spring Awakening) and Jordon Bondurant (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Mamma Mia!) as two of Alex’s counterparts in crime. The ensemble is also the most physically fit group of performers that I’ve seen together on a stage, using striking choreography to tell significant parts of the tale.

Photo By: Caitlin McNaney

Brush up on your Burgess and get a ticket for this limited-run show playing, through January 6, 2018. New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, 800-447-7400.  www.AClockworkOrangePlay.com. https://www.telecharge.com/Off-Broadway/A-Clockwork-Orange-by-Anthony-Burgess/Schedules-Prices

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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