Maybe you’ve got family visiting for Thanksgiving, or maybe you’re sticking around when normally you’d leave (not a bad move considering this could be the “busiest Thanksgiving ever” for air travel).
Whatever your reason is for staying in the city, we’ve got some recommendations for how to take advantage of Thanksgiving in New York, when parts of the city are unbelievably quiet while others are starting to see their holiday crush of tourist crowds.
Looking at you, Midtown.
Go ice skating at Roebling Rink
There are plenty of ice skating rinks across the boroughs, from Midtown stalwarts like Bryant Park and Rockefeller Center to the skating right off the boardwalk at Coney Island.
The Roebling Rink newly opened this week. It’s located right underneath the Brooklyn Bridge (on the Brooklyn side) with a dramatic view of the city skyline as a backdrop. Skating sessions are reservable online for $10 an hour, with skates and helmets available to rent as well.
As a bonus, Brooklyn residents skate free on Sunday mornings (10 to 11 a.m.) and Monday evenings (5 to 6 p.m.) – just bring an ID that shows Brooklyn residency. You can reserve $10 tickets here.
The Nightmare Before Christmas Light Trail is on through Sunday.
Photo by Avery Brunkus / Courtesy New York Botanical Garden
Walk the ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ Light Trail
Halloween Town comes to the Bronx with this nighttime light show at the New York Botanical Garden, a roughly hourlong walk through sculptures, light projections and glowing installations that recreate Jack Skellington and other favorite characters and scenarios from the Tim Burton classic, “The Nightmare before Christmas.”
The final show for the year is Sunday, Dec. 1. Tickets start at at $39 for children aged 12 and under and $44 for adults, and are available here.
The Nightmare Before Christmas Light Trail is on through Sunday.
Photo by Avery Brunkus / Courtesy New York Botanical Garden
Shop Grand Central’s “Made in NYC” Holiday Market
Starting on Saturday, Nov. 30, for one week, Grand Central Terminal is hosting a holiday market comprising vendors and treats from BIPOC brands and vendors — like Malaysian curry pastes, sauces and kits from Mama Lam’s, a mother-daughter duo working out of Queens; tea kits from Shari’s Tea; and Caribbean-style bread pudding from the Puerto Rican woman-owned Heritage Bread Pudding.
The market is held upstairs in the Biltmore “Kissing Room” near tracks 39-42. While you’re at it, check out Grand Central’s own holiday train show. Unlike the big annual show in the Bronx, this show is completely free, inside the Transit Museum’s Grand Central store, with a 34-foot-long two-level train track running on a loop through replicas of New York City landmarks.
Cassandra Lam, co-founder of Mama Lam’s, pictured behind a booth.
Courtesy Mama Lam’s
Find a cozy fireplace bar or restaurant
With a late Thanksgiving running right into December this year, the holidays are in full swing, and unless you’re lucky enough to have a working fireplace in your apartment, you might enjoy getting out to a warm fireside spot now that the weather has (finally) turned.
Hotel bars are a great bet, with the Marlton in Greenwich Village and the Bowery and Ludlow hotels further downtown feeling like a toasty mountain cabin. Union Hall, the restaurant and events venue in Park Slope, feels like a living room with its book-lined walls, and Mace in the West Village serves food along with its award-winning cocktails. If you want a smaller space more to yourself while people are away, the Back Room on the Lower East Side also has a fireplace in its Prohibition-era back alley speakeasy room.
A store window last year at Housing Works.
Photo by Samantha Brooks for Housing Works
Skip Black Friday and shop secondhand instead.
If you’re trying to reduce your impact, the city’s many thrift and vintage stores make a great opportunity for picking up gently used items.
One of the most popular and prolific is Housing Works Thrift Stores, with 10 locations around Manhattan and Brooklyn, from Yorkville to Park Slope. All the stores have some of everything, though some specialize in certain categories, like glassware and antique furnishings at the Chelsea store, or designer clothing (often donated brand-new from the fashion brands in the area) alongside used books and records at the SoHo bookstore on Crosby Street. Housing Works isn’t just a store; it’s a nonprofit organization with a mission to tackle homelessness as well as the HIV/AIDS crises.
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