Christmas in New York City
 

We are visiting NY for the first time with our three children (adult/teenage).
We plan to spend about a week there, including Christmas.
Any tips on the best things to do at this time of the year (shops, food, special events, music, churches???) Where to have Christmas lunch? At this stage, having ruled out apartments for the reasons quoted in these forums, we are looking at staying at the Elysee hotel, but also considering the Affinia properties.
We hope to be able to walk to most attractions (galleries, shops, theatre, Central Park): so a bit touristy, but away from the busy area around Times square....
Are we on the right track? All feedback much appreciated!

All except the walking part -- you will plan to have week pass MetroCards -- there's so much to see and do and buses and subways are the way to get around

There are the traditional - xmas trees -
outdoors Rock Center
origami - indoors - Museum of Natural History
Neopolitan - indoors - the Met

Window displays at Saks and Lord & Taylor.
Outdoor gift market in Union Square; indoor gift market in Grand Central.

Radio City xmas show - not my rec, but popular
Theater, Dance, Concerts
Museum exhibits

Look at museum websites to see what special exhibits will be on then. It may be too early to get that info now.

If you have your heart set on a particular show, I would buy tix now. Also, there are many new plays that first open in the fall (Bye, Bye Birdie for example). You can get good info on Playbill.com. Click on Broadway on the left. You can also get discount tix for certain plays as well. Click on Discounts on the left and sign up for access.

It is NY tradition to eat Chinese food on Christamas day. And if at all possible, try every day, not to eat in Midtown. The predestrian traffic is mind numbing.

And as CentralPark as pointed out, whenever you can purchase tickets in advance for anything do so.

I will chime in about a month before about all the Jewish things you can do on Xmas day in addition to eating Chinese food and going to the movies and volunteering at food pantries etc.

There's now ay you can walk everywhere - esp in Dec - when you may get a day that's 50 - but also may get days with a high of 30 and rain/sleet/snow. Sights are spread out over na area 8 miles long and 2 wide - as well as islands in the harbor.

The subway will be your friend. Get a street map and a subway map - and locate some of the major places you want to see. Realize that midtown will be MOBBED except for Christmas day - and many restaurants are of the upscale variety.

Not sure about the Elysess - the only rooms I;ve seen there are very small. I would think you would get much more room in an Affinia Suite.

As for what to see/do there are dozens of posts.

We always do the Nutcracker at Lincoln Center, walk fifth Avenue from L&T uptown, stopping for the tree and St Pat's as well as all the store window (but do it after 10pm to avoid the worst of the crowds.

Not sure what you want for Christmas dinner. Fraunces Tavern is historic (this is where Washington bade farewell to his troops at the end of the REvolution) and has traditional holiday meals at not bad prices.

Thank you for the replies and suggestions: we'll be sure to follow them up.

Seems that we are underestimating both the New York winters, and the crowds!
We will certainly use the subway, and try to explore areas that will be less crowded than midtown. And buy very warm coats as soon as we arrive!

Still undecided about where to stay. The Elysee has a one bedroom suite and a double/double room which together would give us enough space I think.

Any suggestions relating to the best location (upscale, residential/commercial mix, plenty of cafes and restaurants nearby) most appreciated. Not sure if the Elysee is in such a spot.
The Affinia Gardens?

PS. Have found the older posts about things to do at Christmas in NY: bit slow, but I'm new to this forum.

The Elysess is definitely in a business district - although if you go several blocks east you will come to an upscale and prices residential area. The Affinia Garden is in a more mixed area - some business, many hotels and shops, some residential.

There are plenty of restaturants and cafes everywhere in NYC. In midtown many are upscale and big$ or casuale places for office workers to lunch. For better dining options you need to go to a more residential area - upper west side or village or east village - many more casuale, moderate and modest places with good food.

The latter areas are also busy without being as frantic as midtown is - so you might consider looking for hotels there. Uptown has Central Park and a bunch of major museums. downtown has good access to Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island, Wall St and tenement museums and is trendier with more clubs and bars.

But you should be aware that the drinking age in the US is 21 - and strictly enforced (even wine or beer with a meal is forbidden) so most clubs won;t allow under 21s in at all.

Oh - and for the weather - the city if often damp and windy s well as cold. So you'll need winter coats, hat, gloves, scarf and waterproof shoes or boots. (We usually don't have much snow before Christmas - since the snow belt is about 100 miles north - but several years ago we had 11" on Christmas Day.)