Posts Tagged ‘Brookfield Place’

Where to See the Holiday Sparkle in New York City

Bundle up for a stroll along the streets, inside the malls or at the parks to see New York City’s acclaimed holiday lights.

Manhattan

Holiday Windows and Sidewalks

Saks Fifth Avenue © Meryl Pearlstein

Take a walk down Fifth Avenue where you’ll see some of the department stores’ most elaborate holiday windows. Plan to spend some time in front of Saks Fifth Avenue where this year’s windows were inspired by drawings from children. The windows in front of Bergdorf-Goodman, as always, are a stylefest of imagery with adventure, fashion and fantasy themes, strikingly arranged in tones of black and white, red and white, and rainbow montages.

Bergdorf-Goodman © Meryl Pearlstein

Individual stores like American Girl and the Lego Store have their own window displays decked out with all kinds of merriment. And the exteriors of stores like Cartier twinkle with fully lit décor all wrapped up in red ribbon.

American Girl © Meryl Pearlstein

Additionally, park yourself in front of the glorious Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center and watch the music-and-light spectacular that happens every 15 minutes on the façade of Saks Fifth Avenue. For about 3 minutes, the entire façade changes with lights and decorations with music that will entice and have you humming “So Happy Together” or Beethoven’s Ode to Joy over and over again.

courtesy Rockefeller Center

And this year, there’s a special bonus. A variety of stores have created magic displays right on the sidewalk in front of their establishments. There’s a Microsoft cube in front of the Microsoft store, a giant teddy bear in front of FAO Schwarz, gift packages in front of Cartier, Christmas ornaments across from Tiffany’s and much more. You’ll need to walk up and down both sides of Fifth Avenue to see them all.

Microsoft © Meryl Pearlstein

Hudson Yards

Shine Bright at Hudson Yards © Meryl Pearlstein

If you can tear yourself away from outside plaza at Hudson Yards or down from The Edge (which is also decked out with holiday lights and a garland), you should venture inside the Hudson Yards mall where Shine Bright at Hudson Yards, a twinkling, floor-to-ceiling display of more than two million lights illuminates The Shops, Public Square and Gardens, The Edge and The Vessel. Floating hot air balloons and Christmas trees add to the twinkling magic.

Brookfield Place

Luminaries courtesy Brookfield Place

The mall’s annual Luminaries tradition invites participation with an interactive installation in the Winter Garden. Each hour, you’ll enjoy a special light show featuring music by groups like The Bird and the Bee and Pentatonix. A canopy of colorful lights is formed from hundreds of lanterns suspended among the palms. Below, contactless wishing stations let you send a motion-activated wish to the lanterns prompting a magical display of lights and colors. And you’ll be doing a good deed, too. For each wish that you make, Brookfield Place will donate $1to an organization that’s near and dear to me, ROAR (Relief Opportunities for All Restaurants), which supports New York City restaurant employees facing economic challenges as a result of the pandemic. This year, a new experience called Maestro! allows you to conduct the canopy with a gesture-controlled instrument.

The Lights of Manhattan

courtesy Empire State Building

And here’s a little bonus. You can watch the changing colors of the Empire State Building and the lights of downtown NYC at home on their ESB Live Cam. Two cameras give you two always-changing views. I could watch these for hours.

Brooklyn

When it comes to decorating houses, New York City is “top of the heap.”

The Lights of Dyker Heights

The Lights of Dyker Heights © Meryl Pearlstein

It’s hard to imagine a Christmas without the over-the-top lights displays of the houses in Dyker Heights in Brooklyn. Started in 1986 by Lucy Spata as a give-back to brighten up the neighborhood, the decorated homes and yards have attracted busloads of tourists to the streets each year. Due to COVID, you may have an easier time viewing the inflatable Santa’s, motorized displays and thousands of candy canes and elves, as walking tours are replacing buses.

The Lights of Dyker Heights © Meryl Pearlstein

It’s an immediate way to lift your spirits as you marvel at the passion and creativity here. The main area is 83rd through 86th streets between 11th and 13th avenues. Plan for crowds as this is one of the most popular highlights of the Christmas season in New York City.

New York City has two lantern festivals that you’ll want to put on your holiday lights calendar.

Staten Island

Staten Island’s Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Gardens has an awesome display of more than 1000 winter lanterns, sculpted into figures of all sorts. It’s a party, too, with a live DJ, lots of food, interactive display amid the eight acres of luminaries. You’ll also come away with a holiday gift, your own personal wish lantern. Tickets are required.

Queens

courtesy Queens Country Farm Museum

For the first time, Queens Country Farm Museum is transformed into another lantern and figure wonderland with luminaries taking on shapes appropriate to the farm: flowers, farm animals and tractors. A festive atmosphere reigns throughout with music, food and lots of space to enjoy the lights. Tickets are required.

The Bronx

The Bronx outdoes itself each holiday season with lighting displays and characters that appeal to all ages.

NYBG Glow

NYBG Glow © Meryl Pearlstein

Each year the New York Botanical Garden schedules its beloved train show for the holidays with New York City vignettes and buildings created out of flora and fauna foraged from nature. Further brightening up the landscape, NYBG Glow shines bright into the night with its outdoor Glow color and light experience. The glowing world surrounds the Haupt Conservatory. As you explore, colors, dazzling lights and nighttime illuminations in the reflecting pool and area create a winter wonderland that might conjure up visions of Disney’s World of Color. Adding to the festivities are ice carving displays, roaming dancers and musicians. Expect a Hip Hop Nutcracker performance of the re-imagined Tchaikovsky classic as well. Timed-entry tickets are required for entry.

The Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights

The Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights @ Julie Larsen Maher

Around the corner, the Bronx Zoo doesn’t disappoint with their seasonal celebration of lights. Through January 10, you’ll see illuminated animals and flowers, ice sculptures, a decked-out Christmas tree and light-strung buildings as you wander along “a safari” path through Africa, Asia, Latin America, North America and the Ocean. Costumed characters, stilt walkers and projections onto buildings add to the sparkle. A returning favorite, the Luminous Garden is filled with larger-than-life plants and animals.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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How to Celebrate the Year of the Ox in New York City

Lunar New Year begins on February 12 this year, continuing for two weeks through February 26. This year is the Year of the Ox signifying strength and honesty, characteristic attributed to this highly valued animal. The Lunar New Year is a festival of unity, a way for friends and family to come together whether virtually or in-person to enjoy traditions that will bring good fortune for the coming year. Traditional red lanterns, dragons, wishing trees, lion dances, and, of course, food, mark this important holiday. It’s a time when families celebrate the transition between zodiac signs.

On the Waterfront

Courtesy Westfield World Trade Center

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey celebrate Lunar New Year all week, in partnership with Westfield World Trade Center and the China Institute, with a weeklong series of activities at the World Trade Center. Instruction in virtual dumping making, watercolor calligraphy and paper cutting are highlights. Register online where you can also view the schedule of events. And, don’t forget to look up — the Oculus, Goethals Bridge, Bayonne Bridge and JFK Tower will shine in red and gold to commemorate the Year of the Ox.

Lunar Ice - Courtesy Brookfield Place

Brookfield Place is holding its annual Chinese New Year celebration in person, adapted this year to meet all safety procedures. On the shopping center’s Waterfront Plaza, Lunar Ice showcases ice sculptures by New York City-based art collective, Okamoto Studio on February 12 and 13. Turn your smartphone’s camera to selfie mode to use the new Transform Yourself! Instagram Filter, made especially to commemorate Chinese New Year. Warm up indoors where you can participate in another  Lunar Year tradition, receiving a red envelope. Red is regarded as the symbol of energy, happiness and good luck. If you spend $200 or more in the shops, you’ll be rewarded with a Lucky Red Envelope with a gift card inside with an amount including a lucky Chinese 8.

Virtual Celebrations

Lunar New Year Festival - Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art

A family favorite, The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual Lunar New Year Festival goes virtual this year beginning with pre-recorded videos on February 12 and virtual programming on February 13. The celebration of the Year of the Ox is filled with performances, interactive activities and artist-led workshops for all ages.  Highlights include a sketching session for teens with inspiration from The Met Collection, and a dance and musical performance by the New York Korean Performing Arts Center in The Met’s Astor Court. Teaching artists will provide instruction in making a nature-inspired confetti popper, a zodiac animal charm and a puppet of a dragon, an important symbol in Chinese culture that possesses great power, dignity and wisdom.

Courtesy Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company

Music, dance and acrobatics are featured in Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company’s special production for the Chinese New Year.  The company, a favorite among New York and New Jersey audiences, presents a series of events online for a colorful and vibrant celebration on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, February 11, 12 and 13. Programming highlights the Company’s repertory along with special guests including the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, the Renaissance Chinese Opera Society, toe tip acrobat Lina Liu, and Master Balancing Acrobat Yang XiaoDi. You won’t want to miss the spectacular Dragon Dance, Lion Dance and performances by two Chinese rappers.

Courtesy Watson Adventures

NYC-based Watson Adventures is hosting a virtual scavenger hunt for people to virtually celebrate New Year in Asia with Around the World Scavenger Hunt:  The Asia Pacific Game. After watching giant panda Xia Qi Ji frolicking in the snow this week at Washington, DC’s National Zoo, everyone will enjoy a look at these adorable animals in China’s Wolong Grove and more. The one-hour hunt is scheduled for Saturday, February 13 at 4pm for teams of 2-6 people.

What to Eat and Drink

Courtesy Mansa Tea

NYC’s Mansa Tea invites you to a traditional tea ceremony led by Ashley Lim, certified tea sommelier and company founder. According to Lim, enjoying tea re-affirms ties of kinship and friendship. Observed differently this year, you can enjoy this tasting event with your friends and families in a socially distanced setting. Tasting kits with a variety of aged teas are sent to your home in advance. If there’s a range of ages in your group, it’s traditional for tea to be served to the oldest person first who then passes it to the youngest.

Courtesy Baldor Specialty Foods

Making dumplings is a family tradition during Lunar New Year. Dumplings, like other foods chosen for the holiday, embody good fortune and family unity.  Baldor Specialty Foods has teamed up with NYC’s popular dumpling shop, Mimi Cheng’s to deliver a DIY dumpling kit with pork and chive filling, fresh pre-rolled thin dumpling skins, hand-rolled scallion packages, and a bottle of Mimi’s famous “secret” sauce.

Courtesy Milu

For a full Lunar Year culinary experience, Milu, the new casual Chinese concept from Eleven Madison Park, has arranged a Chinese feast for pick-up. Chef Connie Chung’s eight-dish dinner includes whole salt-baked black bass, shrimp spring rolls, wontons, sesame noodles, Chinese chicken soup, blood orange buns and more.

Soogil (c) Lily Brown

Lunar Year is important to Korean families as well. Eaten for good luck, Tteokguk is a beef broth based soup (guk) served with a thinly sliced rice cakes (tteok) as well as seasoned beef, julienned boiled eggs and seaweed. The rice cakes’ round shape resembles coins which symbolize wealth and prosperity in the coming year.  For the holiday, Soogil will include the soup with all tasting menu orders on February 11 and 12. If you’re in midtown, Yoon Haeundae Galbi invites you to enjoy it in their outdoor structure.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Where to See the Best Holiday Decorations in NYC

It’s a different kind of year for holiday spectaculars, but New York City doesn’t slack when it comes to showing off the joy and sparkles of the season.

Holiday Windows

Saks Fifth Avenue Photo By: Meryl Pearlstein

While the department stores may be emptier than usual this year, they haven’t turned down the volume when it comes to creating a festive holiday showcase on their exteriors. Barneys is missing. Lord & Taylor is no longer. But there’s still plenty to see and love.

Bloomingdale's Photo By: Meryl Pearlstein

The holiday windows at Bloomingdale’s turn and sparkle with colors and glitter. Macy’s windows pay tribute to the many heroes of the year including our frontline workers.  The music and light show on the façade of Saks Fifth Avenue is a must-see, too, if you’re in the vicinity of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. Support the stores, if you can, by shopping in person and acknowledging their good work for the year.

Hudson Yards

Hudson Yards

If you can tear yourself away from The Vessel or down from The Edge (which is also decked out with holiday lights and a garland), you should venture inside the Hudson Yards mall where Shine Bright at Hudson Yards is a brand-new twinkling, floor-to-ceiling display of more than two million lights. Floating hot air balloons and Christmas trees add to the twinkling magic. The display will be up through January 1.

Brookfield Place

Brookfield Place Luminaries

Through January 3, the mall’s annual Luminaries tradition invites participation with an interactive installation in the Winter Garden. Each hour, you’ll enjoy a special light show featuring music by groups like The Bird and the Bee and Pentatonix. A canopy of colorful lights is formed from hundreds of lanterns suspended among the palms. Below, contactless wishing stations let you send a motion-activated wish to the lanterns prompting a magical display of lights and colors. And you’ll be doing a good deed, too. For each wish that you make, Brookfield Place will donate $1to an organization that’s near and dear to me, ROAR (Relief Opportunities for All Restaurants), which supports New York City restaurant employees facing economic challenges as a result of the pandemic.

Lights from Lincoln Center

Lincoln Center - Photos by Sachyn Mital

While the theaters of Lincoln Center remain shuttered until 2021, the exteriors are still ablaze with lights. The gateway to Lincoln Center, Josie Robertson Plaza is illuminated in purple, red and pink tones. Adding further holiday merriment, lanterns float on the reflecting pool and lights adorn the trees in the back campus.

The Lights of Dyker Heights

Dyker Heights in Brooklyn Photo By: Meryl Pearlstein

It’s hard to imagine a Christmas without the over-the-top lights displays of the houses in Dyker Heights in Brooklyn. Started in 1986 by Lucy Spata as a give-back to brighten up the neighborhood, the decorated homes and yards have attracted busloads of tourists to the streets each year. Due to COVID, you may have an easier time viewing now, as walking tours are replacing buses and only private groups of 20 or less are allowed.

Dyker Heights in Brooklyn Photo By: Meryl Pearlstein

It’s an immediate way to uplift the spirits as you marvel at the passion and creativity here. Most displays stay up through January 1. The main area is 83rd through 86th streets between 11th and 13th avenues.

NYBG Glow

NYBG Glow - Photo Courtesy Of: NYBG

Each year the New York Botanical Garden schedules its beloved train show for the holidays with New York City vignettes and buildings created out of flora and fauna foraged from nature, but this year the show is limited to NYBG members and Bronx community partners. Don’t despair, though, NYBG has something else for celebrants in 2020. The  general public event shines bright into the night with a new outdoor Glow color and light experience. Through January 16 on weekend nights, you’ll see a glowing world around the Haupt Conservatory.  As you explore, colors, dazzling lights and nighttime illuminations in the reflecting pool and area create a winter wonderland that might conjure up visions of Disney’s World of Color. Adding to the festivities are ice carving displays, roaming dancers and musicians. Expect a Hip Hop Nutcracker performance of the re-imagined Tchaikovsky classic as well . Timed-entry tickets are required for entry.

The Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights

The Bronx Zoo Holiday Lights

Around the corner, the Bronx Zoo doesn’t disappoint with their seasonal celebration of lights. Through January 10, you’ll see illuminated animals and flowers, ice sculptures, a decked-out Christmas tree and light-strung buildings as you wander along “a safari” path through Africa, Asia, Latin America, North America and the Ocean. Costumed characters, stilt walkers and projections onto buildings add to the sparkle. New this year, the Luminous Garden is filled with larger-than-life plants and animals.

LuminoCity Festival

LuminoCity Festival

Randall’s Island turns into a trippy light extravaganza again through January 10. Sculptures, mushrooms, characters, and towering light displays will keep the entire family entertained as you walk through the expansive LuminoCity Festival park area . Masks are required as you explore the imaginative adventures of Lumi, a character hailing from a universe created from a unicorn’s horn. Timed entry keeps the crowds moving through the narrative journey of love, loss and life.

The Lights of Manhattan

Empire State Building

And here’s a little bonus . You can watch the changing colors of the Empire State Building and the lights of downtown NYC on their ESB Live Cam. Two cameras give you two always-changing views. I could watch these for hours.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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12 of the Sweetest Treats and Special Menus in New York City This Easter

Evelina, the charming Italian restaurant in the Fort Greene neighborhood in Brooklyn, offers a special lunch menu to celebrate Easter created by Executive Chef Lanfranco Paliotti (Daniel, Boulud Sud). Highlights include braised Salt Meadow lamb with parmesan grits, flash fried squash blossom with buffalo mozzarella, rabbit loin porchetta, and ricotta, lemon, and vanilla pancakes with orange flower.

Nearby Miss Ada gives  you both a charming outdoor space and a holiday brunch menu with sweet and savory dishes inspired by the streets of Israel. Featured are include Yemeni such as the jachnun, a flaky dough coated with a date honey that has been slow-cooked in an oven overnight and topped with brown egg, tomato and schug; malawach, a layered pan-fried bread paired with a hard-boiled egg, tomato and schug; and ziva a flaky pastry with layers of the malawach filled with sweet potato, fontina cheese, asiago and mushrooms.

Another Brooklyn favorite, Greenpoint’s Sauvage – from the team being the wildly popular Maison Premiere in Williamsburg — will be serving a special brunch menu for Easter with dishes like the decadent almond French toast with persimmon, coconut and mascarpone; or an egg white frittata with tomato confit, spinach and raclette .Melding the outdoors with the indoors in a manner true to its “wild savage” name, the restaurant is a lush profusion of planted herbs and botanicals with large windows facing nearby McCarren Park.

Add a little taste of Paris by visiting Le District, the French market place located in Brookfield Place. At atmospheric Beaubourg, you’ll enjoy Sunday brunch outside on the terrace with beautiful views overlooking the Hudson River, while sipping on mimosas and enjoying entrées such as Fresh Ham Benedict, with smoked tomato, poached eggs, béarnaise, and baby field greens. In keeping with the French esprit, a pastry basket with assorted croissants, a cookie plate and a cocktail are included.

For a Spanish-inflected Easter brunch, Basque-inspired Ortzi by Jose Garces in the new LUMA Hotel Times Square will offer a 3-course Easter Brunch with dishes including tortilla Española, a Spanish potato omelet with spinach, roasted peppers and tomato jam; and Spanish shrimp Eggs Benedict with asparagus, English muffin, and Nora Chile hollandaise. Dessert treats include Crema Catalana with cinnamon and citrus custard, topped with brûléed sugar.

Feeling like something sweet for the holiday? Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer’s Easter CrazyShake The Peeps Shake is a cherry shake with a vanilla frosted rim with Easter M&Ms, topped with yellow chick Peeps, whipped cream, Easter sprinkles and a cherry.

The Palm Court at The Plaza will be having an Easter Grand Buffet that mixes sweet with savory, seasonal favorites. Choose from holiday specials such as strawberry spring salad with dry aged goat cheese, pine nuts, and balsamic vinaigrette, a carving station with herb-roasted rack of lamb with mint chimichurri sauce and bourbon, and apricot-glazed ham with violet mustard. Don’t miss the special holiday dessert, a Gianduja chocolate egg with a banana cream center and hazelnut sable.

All-day brasserie Bowery Road from Chef Ron Roselli (Locanda Verde, The Standard Hotel Meatpacking) takes its inspiration from the nearby Union Square Greenmarket, serving up a seasonally appropriate Easter special of Green Eggs ‘n Ham with salsa verde and spring pea deviled eggs alongside LaQuercia prosciutto.

For Easter at Marco Canora’s East Village restaurant Hearth, guests can celebrate brunch and dinner by arranging a medley of small dishes or choosing the “Family Easter Feast.” Starters spotlight spring flavors like the stracciatella with ramps and shoots, or sourdough bruschetta with peas, Feta and chile. Also featured are charred Norwich Meadows carrots with lemon confit and sunflower, and gnocchi sardi with pancetta and peas. The family dinner skews more traditional with roast lamb leg roulade, potatoes, spring vegetables and broccoli casserole.

Riverpark offers brunch with views of the East River. Tom Colicchio brings out the best of spring with brunch specials such as grilled bread and ricotta with rhubarb and thyme; smoked brisket hash with fingerling potatoes, spring onions, asparagus and poached egg; and Nashville hot chicken with skillet corn bread, honey butter and house-made pickles. Desserts are ingredient-driven as well such as the restaurant’s signature “Cereal & Milk” with chocolate ganache cake, caramelized rice puffs and vanilla malt.

Temple Court in the Beekman Hotel features old and new classics, reinvented with Colicchio’s signature, seasonal touch. This Easter, guests can enjoy a two-course brunch with family-style appetizers such as doughnut holes with banana caramel or citrus-cured salmon with bagel crostinis, followed by mains including pork belly hash with roasted Brussels sprouts, apples and eggs; or a breakfast sandwich with egg, bacon , gruyere, spicy aioli, arugula and a roasted tomato on a poppy seed roll.

The exclusive Polo Bar in midtown will serve a classic Sunday brunch to celebrate Easter with dishes such as popover Benedict with poached eggs, creamed spinach, ham and gruyère; Ralph’s corned beef hash with sunny-side up eggs, sautéed kale and cayenne hollandaise; and challah French toast with fresh berries and Vermont maple syrup. Reservations must be made by phone.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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