One of my favorite traditions during the holiday season is walking down 5th Avenue, taking in all the store windows, and ending at Rockefeller Center to see the tree. This year it happened on a blustery Tuesday night…we were graced with snow during the first half of the day, but by nightfall all that was left was nippy Christmas wind!
Starting at 58th Street, first up is Bergdorf Goodman. The theme this year is “Holidays On Ice”, and each window showcases a special non-Christmas holiday. The pink saturated Valentine’s Day window is by far my favorite.
Tiffany & Co on 57th Street did a particularly adorable job this year with dollhouse-size buildings adorned with the iconic little blue boxes. My favorite party of this intersection isn’t the diamonds (shocking, I know!), but rather the giant UNICEF sparkling snowflake that is suspended at the intersection. I always refer to it as a bit of Tiffany’s frosting.
Henri Bendel got quite whimsical this year on 56th Street, paying tribute to caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. The windows are adorned with caricatures of folks you know and love, Woody Allen, Sarah Jessica Parker, Marilyn Monroe, and my favorite, Audrey Hepburn. Bravo, Bendels!
Keep perusing down 5th and you’ll reach Saks at 50th Street, which showcases the Yeti Snow Workshop. Starting at the beginning, the windows follow the story of a little yeti who leaves his family in Siberia to make it as an artist in NYC (does that story sound all too familiar to anyone else?!) Take a walk across the street, and you’ll see the snowflake light show come to life on the facade of Saks after dark. Truly magical for kids and adults of all ages!
And of course…you made it! Directly across the street from Saks is the Rockefeller Christmas Tree! My holiday season has officially begun!
Jessica Tiare Bowen lives in the juicy Big Apple with her adorable pink-nosed chihuahua, Gillman. He’s the inspiration for her first published children’s book, “Park Avenue Pound Puppy.” The book is the combined result of her two greatest passions: pooches and penning stories.
Her passions include art, urban hikes through Manhattan, drinking coffee with 3 creams and 6 sugars, making extremely detailed itineraries and traveling to far away places, singing along to Broadway shows, Netflix movie nights, discovering incredible treasures at Goodwill and thrift stores, and listening to stories from little people under 7 and big people over 70.
She started her career as New York City Teaching Fellow, teaching elementary school and theater arts at a special education school in the South Bronx for 6 years. She is now a Special Education School Improvement Specialist working in public schools throughout New York City. She is the Editor-In-Chief of the online New York City travel magazine, Used York City. The magazine focuses on finding the best of New York…as used by New Yorkers. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and an ASPCA Ambassador.
