Photograph by Liz Ligon
From elaborately lit homes in Brooklyn to artfully crafted window displays at Manhattan’s finest stores, there are plenty of places to visit to soak up some holiday cheer this year. After the tough year we’ve all been through, the festive light displays of the holidays are a welcome and comforting tradition and one that can be taken part in safely if spectators adhere to social distancing and wear a mask. We’ve rounded up the most spectacular holiday decorations in NYC that you can see for yourself!
1. Make it Bright Along Fifth Avenue
Photograph by Liz Ligon
Giant glowing toys are scattered along Fifth Avenue from 50th to 55th streets in Manhattan. A classic red truck hauling a Christmas tree, an overflowing toy chest, an airplane piloted by a snowman, and a yellow cab with a trunk full of presents are some of the nostalgic pieces you will find. Every sculpture is accompanied by a QR code that, when scanned with a smartphone, reveals a magical story about the toy.
The Make it Bright light sculpture installation is one of a handful of new holiday decorations in NYC this year. The installation was created by the Fifth Avenue Association with help from the innovative lighting specialists at Blachere Illumination, a global company that has lit up cities all over the world. You can visit the sculptures now through January 8th, 2021, and see them light up between 4:00PM and 10:00PM. The procession of toys leads up to a grand display of oversized Christmas ornaments and glowing spheres at the Pulitzer Fountain on 59th Street.
2. Holiday Flotilla at Harlem Meer in Central Park
Photograph Courtesy of Central Park Conservancy
The holiday lights at Central Park’s Harlem Meer are pulling double duty this year. In addition to carrying out the annual holiday tradition, this year’s lighting display also celebrates 40 years of the Central Park Conservancy, an organization that has worked as a steward of the park since 1980.
While this year’s lighting ceremony was held virtually, all are welcome to visit the park and see the floating cluster of lighted Christmas trees on the Harlem Meer. The tallest of the trees is topped with a glittering star! Harlem Meer is located at the Park entrance west of Fifth Avenue and south of 110th Street.
3. The Homes of Dyker Heights
Dyker Heights is one of the most popular destinations in New York City to see over-the-top holiday displays. For decades, homeowners throughout all 22 blocks of the Brooklyn neighborhood have covered their houses with dazzling lights, lush garlands, and festive figurines. The most famous houses can be found on 83rd, 84th, and 85th Street, between 11th and 13th Avenue.
The New York Post reports that an estimated 300,000 people visit the neighborhood each year to see the lights. To help cut down the crowds and make viewing the lights a safe activity during the pandemic, bus tours have been canceled and many local tour companies who usually take groups to the area have stopped. Visitors who come on their own are strongly encouraged to maintain social distance and be respectful to homeowners and other spectators.
4. NYBG GLOW at the New York Botanical Garden
Photo by Marlon Co/The New York Botanical Garden
The New York Botanical Garden is putting out all-new holiday decorations in NYC this year. NYBG GLOW is an outdoor experience that illuminates the gardens surrounding the historic Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. Brilliantly colored projections cover the trees in a mystical glow while sparkling light sculptures illuminate the grounds and highlight the magnificent conservatory building.
This fantastic light display will also feature artistic ice carvings, roving dancers, livemusicians, and more! Book your tickets here. NYBG GLOW will run through Saturday, January 9, 2021.
5. Fifth Avenue Department Store Windows
Ornate holiday window displays in Manhattan department stores are a tradition that dates back to 1874 when Macy’s debuted its first Christmas display. This year, many of the store windows focus less on expensive gifts and luxury items, and more on giving back to the New Yorkers who have helped the city weather this difficult year.
At Macy’s, you’ll find flashing tributes to frontline workers. At Saks Fifth Avenue, the windows depict COVID-era holiday scenes around New York City, from the Roosevelt Island tram to Dyker Heights. At Bloomingdale’s, you can smell the window scenes! Each monochromatic display represents part of the “Give Happy” campaign and scents of peppermint and pine are piped into the streets. Take a virtual tour of the 2020 window displays through our photographs here!
6. Origami Tree at the American Museum of Natural History
D. Finnin/© AMNH
Besides the most famous tree at Rockefeller Center, there are tons of other trees to see in New York City. From Wall Street to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, public Christmas tree displays have been a tradition since the first public lighting in Madison Square Park in 1912. One of the most unique trees can be found at the American Museum of Natural History. For over forty years, the museum has erected a giant Origami Holiday Tree, and this year the tradition continues.
The theme of the 2020 tree is Cranes and Colors. Every inch of its branches is covered by 1,000 colorful origami cranes and icons of the museum. The decorations on the 13-foot are inspired by the museum’s special exhibition, The Nature of Color. Cranes are a symbol of peace and good wishes, sentiments the museum wants to sent out to New York after this difficult year. continues to endure the many challenges posed by COVID-19. You can see this one-of-a-kind tree until January 10, 2021.
7. World’s Largest Menorah at Manhattan Grand Army Plaza
The World’s Largest Menorah sits outside the Plaza Hotel. Each night during Hanukah, from December 10th through December 18th, a lighting ceremony will be held at Manhattan’s Grand Army Plaza and a new light atop the 36-foot menorah will be lit. This massive menorah has been put up for Hanukah since the 1970s. Every New York City mayor since then has gotten to light it. This year, new LED lights on the frame of the menorah honor New Yorkers who have passed away due to COVID-19.
Guests are welcome to attend the nightly candle lighting ceremonies during the week of Hanukah, but crowds will be limited. Attendees must wear masks and social distance. The ceremonies will be accompanied by live music. Sunday through Thursday, candle-lighting ceremonies will be held at 5:30 pm, Friday at 3:45 pm, and Saturday at 8:30 pm.
8. Tumbling Brights at Lincoln Square
Photograph Courtesy of Lincoln Square BID
A new choreographed lighting display is cartwheeling its way along Broadway. Tumbling Brights is made up of a procession of ten somersaulting spirit figures placed on Broadway malls from Columbus Circle up to 70th Street. Each light figure is positioned at a different angle to create the effect that the figures are performing acrobatics you walk up and down the streets of the display.
The spritely figures converge at Dante Park across from Lincoln Center at the statue of Dante Alighieri. Dante Park and the statue within are also illuminated. String lights and a twinkling projection of stars bring a festive glow to the park. The new light installation presented by the Lincoln Square Business Improvement District will be on view all the way through February 28, 2021.
9. LuminoCity at Randall’s Island Park
Photo by Yunkai. Courtesy of LuminoCity Festival.
LuminoCity Festival is a magnificent display of light sculptures arranged over several acres of Randall’s Island. The festival was inspired by traditional Chinese lantern festivals. LuminoCity creators merged that tradition with modern design and storytelling. The scenes are different every year of the festival and based on an original Lumi’s Adventure story.
Visitors to LuminoCity will follow Lumi’s path through the Mysterious Forest, Dangerous Dunes, Forgotten Ruins and Mystical Moon Land. Giant lanterns form all features of these fantastical, dream-like worlds. You can take part in this experience through January 10th.
10. Hudson Yards
Photograph Courtesy of Hudson Yards
Hudson Yards may have one of the brightest displays of holiday decorations in NYC this year! A forest of 725 additional trees lights up the plaza, alongside five giant illuminated hot air balloons. The light sculptures are sixteen to thirty feet tall. The largest is suspended above The Great Room at The Shops. Throughout the dazzling display, there are more than 2 million glistening lights. A string of all of those lights would stretch out over 115 miles!
Hudson Yards is also offering guests a virtual visit with Santa. After downloading the free Membit APP, guests are transported to the North Pole and Santa’s Workshop. There, you can take photos with animated polar bears, elves, penguins, Rudolph, and hop on a video chat with Santa!
11. Holiday Lights at the Bronx Zoo
Photo credits: Julie Larsen Maher © WCS
Go on a lantern safari at the Bronx Zoo with the annual Holiday Lights celebration. On select dates between now and January 10, 2021, you can explore the plants and animals of Africa, Asia, Latin America, North America and the ocean, in giant lantern form! The colorful displays feature lantern elephants, tigers, gorillas, sea turtles, monkeys, cheetahs, giraffes, and more wildlife creatures.
The lantern safaris are accompanied by live ice-carving demonstrations, holiday treats, costumed characters, wildlife theater, stilt walkers, and more fun activities. After you’ve trekked through the illuminated wildlife habitats, you can sit down to roast marshmallows while enjoying a warm cup of hot cocoa.
12. Luminaries at Brookfield Place
Photo Courtesy of Berlin Rosen
Luminaries lights up the winter garden to Brookfield Place in Lower Manhattan. Hundreds of lanterns hang above the courtyard and put on a mesmerizing show. Designed by the LAB at Rockwell Group, the canopy of rainbow-colored lights are controlled by touchless wishing stations.
Wishing stations, which have been made contactless this year, allow visitors to send a motion-activated wish to the lanterns above. Wishes make the lanterns light up and change colors. For each wish, Brookfield Place will donate $1, up to $25,000 to Relief Opportunities for All Restaurants (ROAR). Get your wishing by January 3rd, 2021.
13. Central Park Wreath Interpretations Online
Kaitlyn E. Hay, “Hail to the Art Teacher”
This year’s Wreath Interpretations Exhibit, which is usually housed inside the Central Park Arsenal, will be online this year. Now in its 38th year, the exhibit features creations from artists, designers, and creative individuals who reimagine the traditional holiday wreath. Unexpected materials like paintbrushes, coconut husks, work gloves, and matchbooks have all been used to make these interpretive pieces. Some of the wreaths have timely themes. One is dedicated to Ruth Bader Giseberg and fashioned out of blake tulle with white doilies.
You can view all of the quirky creations in the online exhibit here! Each photograph is accompanied by a description of the materials used and an explanation by the artist.
Next, check out 14 New Public Art Installations in NYC December 2020 and NYC Themed Holiday Gift Guide 2020
