11 Christmas in New York City Fun Facts
The holiday season is now in full bloom and Christmas is just days away. We can’t be more excited and we are hoping for a beautiful white Christmas! New York City has a lot of treasured Christmas traditions and with that in mind, here are some fascinating Christmas in New York City fun facts.
The first official Rockefeller Christmas tree went on display in 1933.
This year’s world-famous Rockefeller Christmas tree is a Norway Spruce, it weighs over 12 tons, is 75 feet tall and is about 80 years old.
It take 45,000 lights to decorate the Rockefeller Christmas tree!
The MTA hosts holiday nostalgia subway rides a couple of Sundays before Christmas. The vintage R1-9 subway cars will run along the F line between 2nd Ave & Lexington Ave/ 63rd St and via the Q line between Lexington Ave/ 63rd St and 96th St.
Macy’s was the first department store to feature holiday and Christmas window displays. They have been doing it since the 1870’s and it is a tradition that is still going strong.
The Rockettes dance company was founded in 1925 and they have been performing at Radio City Music Hall since 1932.
The Radio City Christmas Spectacular itself first debuted in December 21, 1933 and it originally was only 30 minutes long. The show is now 90 exciting minutes long.
Want to get into the holiday spirit? Rolf’s German Restaurant is renowned for their over the top Christmas decorations.
The Dyker Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn is also renowned for it’s over the top Christmas decorations and displays. Homeowners have spent as much as $20,000 on these Christmas decorations.
The New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show features 150 landmarks and they are all made with bark, leaves and other natural materials.
Santa Claus is based on a real person, Saint Nikolas of Myra aka Saint Nicholas and he is a the patron saint of New York City among other things.
Do you have any fun facts about Christmas in New York City? Share it with us on Twitter or Facebook!