Brookfield place Wishing Stations

Rockefeller center tree

 December is a great month to be in New York City. The avenues get all strung up with shining lights, the winter markets steam with cider and roasting chestnuts.   The most celebrated of Christmas trees, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is a classic New York City destination for holiday visitors and residents alike.    A  94-foot Norway spruce is lit up by 50,000 lights, and  the annual tree lighting lasts until January 7th.

Metropolitan Museum Of Art Tree

 The 20-foot Blue Spruce at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is adorned with 18th-century Neapolitan silk-robed angels, cherubs and realistic crèche figures hovering among its branches.  Every year, the Museum of Natural History  decorates a holiday tree and places handmade, artistic origami models inspired by museum collections, permanent halls and current exhibitions all over the tree.
On December 1st, the New York Stock Exchange celebrated  the 93rd annual Christmas Tree lighting. A glorious tree  is decorated with extra large baubles.


Tree near Wall Street

 People ice skate at the Bryant Park Winter Village rink  enjoying  the music  and a huge Christmas tree.  The Holiday Tree at Bryant Park is a 55' tall Norway Spruce decorated in over 30,000 LED lights and 3,000 custom ornaments.



Inside Brookfield Place

But if  you're  really looking to get into the holiday spirit and do not like the crowds, look no further than the  ,  the new-ish luxury mall located in the downtown office complex formerly known as the World Financial Center . From my view this year Brookfield place is the best place  to spend  last  the  days of  year 2016.

There are about ten  Christmas trees decorated differently  located in all over the place.  What is very important all these trees are located under the glass roof  so you can enjoy  the lights even when it is raining outside.

Ice Skating near Brookfield Place

 If the weather is good you can skate outside. Located on the plaza in front of the  Brookfield Place Winter Garden , this 7,350 square feet rink  is  even bigger than the Rink at Rockefeller Plaza.  This season, the rink offer Learn to Skate classes with Olympic medal–winning husband-and-wife team, Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov.

 The centerpiece of the  holiday installation  is a spectacular lighting display with 650 lanterns that follows the glass enclosed topography of the Winter Garden.    Designed by Rockwell Group , Luminaries inspires visitors to pause, reflect, and look to the future.

Three glowing Wishing Stations scattered among the locale’s iconic grid of palm trees  invite guests to "send" wishes to the canopy of lanterns by placing their hands on the touch-sensitive podiums. Upon its release, the glowing block sends a burst of color to the canopy above, transforming the whim into an abstract wave of light that travels across the lanterns. For every wish made, Arts Brookfield will donate $1 to support  Schools music education programs for high school students.

Wishing Station

“We wanted to create a place that was about connection and celebration,” said David Rockwell, president and founder of Rockwell Group. “That notion of community plays very large in our thinking. In a city that can be very anonymous, people crave opportunities to participate.”

Light shows are  presented every 30 minutes on the hour and half hour starting at 8:00 AM and ending at 10:00 PM daily. From December 2, 2016 through January 8, 2017, Luminaries will exhibit three shows synced to the sound of these 3 beloved seasonal songs: "Winter Wonderland" by Michael Bublé, "Silver Bells" by Tony Bennett and   "Carol of the Bells" by The Bird and The Bee.

 If you are hungry there is a  huge food court unlike other public food courts in the city.  It has amazing waterfront views of the Battery Park . There's a great selection of upscale places like Umami Burger, Numpang, Skinny Pizza, Chop't,  etc