Lord & Taylor's detailed holiday displays

As much as window shopping can feel like a sport, holiday window shooting can feel like one too! While on a roll with the Macy's windows and with Saks as my next stop, I admired the details of the holiday displays in Lord & Taylor's windows on 5th Avenue and 38th Street.

There I saw:

A family hanging stockings by the chimney


Puppets dancing


A man ice-skating in the village


A snowman ice-skating with a father and daughter pair


A cat peeking out from under the chair


And a dog resting by the fireplace

The Macy's Holiday Windows

Beneath a lit up tree and a famous sign that you've all seen, are the Macy's annual holiday window displays. This year they fit along with the "Believe" campaign, where kids can write a letter to Santa in the North Pole. These colorful displays take you through the process of creating a card for Santa, seeing it stamped, seeing it in the mail with a bunch of others, then Santa reading it himself.

Holiday tree lights at the entrance


The digital process of writing a letter to Santa


The stamping process


Mailing of the letter


Santa reading the letter!

Snowwy Weekend

Actually, it was a Blizzard-like weekend here in New York City. Rather than stay in and stay warm, I ventured out to take pictures in Central Park on Sunday afternoon before it got dark. Here's how it went before I eventually got cold and turned around to go back home and warm up!

When I got off the subway...



I saw snow everywhere...



On bare tree branches...



On top of the lake...



Next to the ducks...



all over the hills...



and that was all I could take!



I also saw some adorable Snowmen here and here.

Beacon Court holiday tree

Every year around this time I notice the beautiful blue holiday tree inside Beacon Court between 58th & 59th Streets and Lexington and 3rd Avenue. Nearby is one of my favorite shopping areas as well as my old workplace. Within Beacon Court is a Starbucks, the restaurant Le Cirque, the Bloomberg offices and some residential condos. The tree is a nice touch to the amazing architecture of this block—and goes so well with the address and sign!

Close-ups of the holiday tree by Wall Street

The holiday tree outside the New York Stock Exchange

While braving the after-work rush of Wall Street to get some nighttime photos near the seaport, I came across the amazing holiday tree that is across the street from the New York Stock Exchange. I've seen it unlit before, so it wasn't so memorable, but after seeing the many bright lights this time around, I have to say it's a holiday tree I'll never forget!

It towers over the plaza/walkway of Broad Street and almost takes away from the very grandiose money market to its side (the Stock Exchange). The views, the space, the lighting and the crowds are all perfect photo opps here!

Pink is in this holiday season!

Over on Lexington Avenue and 59th Street are some very pink holiday displays. Across the street from Bloomingdales are two neighboring shops Victoria's Secret and Shoe Woo, which have holiday decorations out that are fun, festive and all in PINK!

Victoria's Secret store entrance


Shoe Woo's window display




Here's an extra pink image - taken of the Daffy's window display in Herald Square:



Thanks @AmyDenev for ID'ing the shoe store for me on Twitter/TwitPic!

Santacon NYC!

Santacon was this past Saturday and the red and white crowds gathered in Williamsburg Brooklyn, New Jersey, Staten Island, Astoria Queens and Manhattan—all before dispersing around the boroughs throughout the day. I heard that most had gathered in Washington Square Park so my photo-blogging friends and I ran down to the West Village and got some great pictures of the red and white sea of Santas, reindeer, snowflakes and even elves!

Santas gathered in Washington Square Park in the West Village

note: they are all actually IN the fountain!
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Radio Santa blasting some dance tunes

An inebriated Santa leaving the Bohemian Beer Garden in Astoria

Check out my flickr photostream for more Santa pics, including the one I dubbed, "Office Chair Santa."

Outside Bloomingdales

I've spent the past couple of years taking pictures outside of Bloomingdales on 59th and Lexington, but no time actually shopping there. One night I contemplated going in but decided to just take some more pictures! I guess I see no need to shop there during the holidays—because it's so picturesque outside, just to shoot!

View from 60th and 3rd Avenue

View from 59th and 3rd Avenue

Colorful holiday displays

Macy's and "Believe"

Macy's is very festive around the holidays—you might have seen them on the annual airing of the Thanksgiving Parade on NBC ?—haha. My favorite part of the the parade is when performances take place in front of this flagship store on 34th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues.

Shortly after Thanksgiving I ventured over to the crazy, crowded area of Herald Square to visit some offices located across the street Macy's and enjoyed views of the "Believe" sign. This year the store held a contest as part of the "Tell Us Why You Believe" campaign. Kids could write a letter to Santa and drop it off in an official Santa mailbox inside the store. Maybe you've seen the commercials!

Tree Lighting in Bryant Park

The holiday tree in Bryant Park was lit ton Friday night with musical performances and synchronized skating on The Pond. Since I skipped the tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center on Wednesday (went last year and couldn't find a good viewing spot), I figured the event in Bryant Park would be perfect because there's a lot more space along 42nd and 41st streets.

The event was great and I was joined by Amy while taking pictures of the wonderful holiday tree and its surroundings, which include the skating rink, referred to as "The Pond" and Celsius, a restaurant/lounge/bar overlooking everything in the park.

The holiday tree

Skaters on The Pond

Celsius restaurant

Holiday!

So far the festive holiday stuff that I have spotted around town has been mostly on 5th Avenue. Saks, Henri Bendel, Bergdorf and lots of other stores already have their decorations out. Bloomingdale's on Lexington and 3rd is getting there, and I believe Macy's over on 6th and 7th started decorating first, as I noticed trees (and pumpkins) lining the streets right before Halloween!

There's ice-skating in Rockefeller Center next to the big tree, in Central Park at Wollman's Rink and in Bryant Park at The Pond. I'm not crazy about ice-skating. Too slippery if you ask me, but I'll probably be out and about throughout the winter to watch from the sidelines since there's always tasty food and attractions nearby—especially at the one in Bryant Park!

Cartier, near Saks Fifth Avenue

The exterior of Bergdorf Goodman on 59th & 5th has lots of wreaths!

Wollman's Rink in Central Park

More to come of course...

Empire State Building Colors

I've been seeing pictures of the Empire State Building a lot more lately - mainly thanks to NewYorkology and ESB_Lights on Twitter. The twitter handle LatinoEvents posts gorgeous photos from time to time as well. It's cool to learn about the meanings behind the different colors that appear every other night or so—on Halloween the lights were orange and the next day for the ING Direct NYC Marathon, they appropriately stayed orange. Recently they were purple to honor the March of Dimes foundation, and blue for World Diabetes Day.

Tonight, it was back to its usual white.

Two famous buildings from a distance

From Queens you can sometimes see two of our city's most famous skyscrapers - The Empire State Building and The Chrysler Building. Whether it's dark or bright, day or night, you can see their pointy tops beyond the few tall buildings and water towers in Long Island City.

It's always nice to be on the subway and look out the windows or across the platform to see amazing sights like these. I hope that everyday commuters take a moment every now and then to enjoy the unique and bold sights and sounds that we have all around us from whatever point in New York City we might be in - Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, The Bronx or Manhattan.

View of The Empire State Building and Chrysler Building from Queens borough Plaza

Big apples in the Big Apple!

Apparently there are a few big apples throughout this city. I found some info on flickr that details their purpose and what they were a part of. They were decorated and placed around the city back in 2004 as part of the Big Apple Fest, "a public art initiative to promote the city and benefit charities."

I came across one of these back in July and another one on Halloween night. This was when I realized there might be more than just the one! These sculptures are very unique and obviously tongue in cheek!

This one is on 86th Street and York Avenue

Spotted in Midtown East between 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue

The Empire Hotel

A very scenic part of New York City starts at Broadway in the Upper West Side. From 59th Street's Time Warner buildings and the fountain at Columbus circle, to 66th Street's Lincoln Center and in between at the Empire Hotel on 63rd Street. Julliard, Avery Fisher Hall and Fordham University are all within the vicinity as well.

Scenes from Gossip Girl and Sex and the City 2 have been shot here, and thanks to all of the recent hype, there will likely be many more to come!

This is a great little part of town to visit if you are visiting. The famous Tavern on the Green restaurant is nearby, plus Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath and Beyond and a Leows theater featuring IMAX makes this a great spot for shopping and entertainment.

The Empire Hotel with the Time Warner Buildings in the background