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There is nothing more magical than Christmas in New York City! Start your day trip at the window display at Macy's Herald Square. Then walk up 6th Avenue to Bryant Park and purchase a hot chocolate, crepe, and go ice skating at their annual Holiday Shops at Winter Village! Keep heading north all the way up to 59th street, turn right and head towards 5th Avenue along Central Park South. Start walking back down on 5th Avenue and make sure to pass by all the the high end department and boutique stores as well as Rockefeller Center! Try and catch the amazing light show outside Saks Fifth Avenue that occur on the hour every hour after sundown. And remember, go inside all the department stores as well. Their indoor decorations are just as beautiful!

Downtown Manhattan is also a site to see during the holiday season. If you find yourself in the financial district, definitely check out the Oculus and enjoy high end shopping and ice skating on the Hudson River at the beautiful and recently opened Brookfield Place.

If you want the best of the best in Christmas lights, head over to Dyker Heights in Brooklyn. Nothing says "anything you can do I can do better" quite like the homeowners in this neighborhood, with their ornate and outlandish front lawns! But beware, there will be bumper to bumper traffic the whole week of Christmas leading up to New Year's day. Google "Dyker Heights Christmas lights" and plan your trip wisely!

My very very favorite home is located in Jamaica Estates Queens on the corner of Chevy Chase and 80th Street. I ran into this house purely by accident after having dinner on Union Turnpike. My children, husband and I parked the car and decided to go outside to see what all the commotion was about. There was a crowd of about 70 people lined up to see the display windows of this house (better than anything in any NYC department store...and much more impressive because this is someone's residence!) When I went home, I discovered that indeed I had seen the most famous house in the tri-state area. For those of other faiths, not to worry! The owner has got decorations covered for a whole range of observers. Please check the videos below to see what all the hype is about! (On December 15, 2019, my friend shared the tragic news that she passed the house and saw no lights. I told her she’s an idiot and to go to the exact corner. She said she did. I quickly went to their facebook page, because of course this house has a facebook page, and they had written in 2018 “Dear friends and neighbors, We just wanted to let you know that Christmas in Jamaica Estates will not be turning on our lights this year. We love doing it for our friends, fmaily and neighbors, and we hope t be back next year. We wish everyone from the bottom of our hearts a happy and safe holiday season! Best wishes, the Gurino Family”. I am sorry for all those who never got to experience this home! Hopefully, 2018 and 2019 were just bumps in the road and they will return in greater fashion once they get over the trauma of their annual electricity bill!!

If you live near Pelham Gardens in the Bronx, it’s worth a visit to the Garabedian Family’s Christmas House located at 1605 Pelham Parkway North at Westervelt Avenue. “Mixed in with a traditional nativity scene and plenty of corpulent angels are nearly 200 animated figures, all glammed up in old-school Hollywood-style gowns. Holiday music blares from multiple speakers and there’s a horse-drawn carriage from which a Cinderella-like mannequin elegantly exits.” www.mommypoppins.com. The neighborhood is no where as impressive as Dyker Heights, and the decorations here are not as impressive as those in front of any home in the Brooklyn neighborhood. No need to cross any bridge and pay a toll to visit this house. (I made a stop only because I was at nearby NY Botanical Garden for their annual and magnificent Holiday Train Show and figured I’d kill two birds with one stone. But I went too early in the season and the lights were not on yet. Just the mannequins were up. Take a look at the video below for a better idea!)

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