Xmas in New York by Anthony Mc Carthy

Christmas in New York: a feast of shopping trips, site seeing, helicopter journeys, sporting activities, virtual tours, literary readings, art-house screenings, comedy stand-ups, gigs, plays, clubbing, burlesque and even that kitchen sink too if that is what you want. And it’s a good bet that a fair bunch will travel again this December despite the fact that we have extra items to mull over like house taxes & water charges.

Now of course we have that priceless internet and you can check out for yourself all sorts of stuff like what’s brightest on Broadway & Off-Broadway too. Not quite part of that is the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring icons like the Rockettes, up & running again this Xmas. Other regular seasonal events include The Rockfeller Center tree-lighting ceremony, The Emerald Nuts midnight run, The Next Wave festival, The New Year’s Eve celebrations on Times Square and so forth. For more here check nycgo.com.

A lot of things in Manhattan are state-of-the-art and I am not just talking about the sound systems at the more hip music venues like Irving Plaza near Union Square – for

it refers to a whole load of things such as the screening facilities at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center off Columbus Avenue; the classic décor at the Crosby Street Hotel in Soho; the stunning architecture at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in the Bowery; the entrance to the redesigned NY Historical Society off Central Park West and every minor detail about the Rose Center for Earth & Space, a dazzling $200 million dollars set-up boasting multi-sensory technology, virtual simulators, digital scales, astronomical images, ect, ect. It is located within earshot of the Museum of Natural History on Upper West Side.

If you have time over a trip or two out to the outer boroughs is well worth it. For starters they are larger in scale that what they seem. And for that reason a little planning is required here. Brooklyn is now exceedingly hip and spaces like the BAM

arts complex very much live up to the hype. And the new Barclays auditorium is another crystal-clear one. The borough of Queens doesn’t have major calling cards. And is inclined to be overlooked a little. I asked the Cork based Mary Guiney who grew up there for her opinion, “ Well any neighbourhood that reared & bred those riveting Ramones must have a few lifelike things up its sleeve, furthermore a veritable posse of other great artists were also born there”. But what would you recommend for the tourist? “I heard they recently revamped the Museum of the Moving Image and arty types should dig it, the NY Mets baseball stadium – which in the past has staged the likes of the Beatles & the Stones – is worthy of a sconce and so is the nearby Flushing Meadow Park”.

Another factor why some desire to pop over there is to immerse themselves in that

thing called the New York State of Mind. Now this is worthy of closer scrutiny.

Say you go over for an extended vacation and you return in the 2^nd week of January

feeling like a Native New Yorker; but sometime later you wake up one morning and you say to your partner,” I’m just feeling a little unstuck today darling, perhaps even a bit grumpy”. And she utters in edgeways, “whatever happened to that New York State of Mind then, you cannot be blaming the Bishops for it now can you”. End of the word spin. In truth, a state of mind really means the same thing as a state of consciousness. And artists who have a philosophical & sacred side to their art like for instance the lionhearted Leonard Cohen will testify to the fact that if you really want to move into a higher state of consciousness in a manner that actually counts you will need the assistance of that higher power.

How to hit NYC without breaking the bank? If you use your mother wit, you can still enjoy your sojourn relatively cheaply like making the most of all the free things the city that never sleeps has to offer. The ferry to Staten Island comes without charge;

and so does that walk along The Highline, an approx. 1-mile linear themed park cum site-specific art location, located on the far west side of Manhattan. And admission to the Museum of the Native American Indian is free. And there’s lots more things to be had for the asking too.

The city’s tallest skyscraper One World Trade Center – formally known as Freedom Tower – is finally up & away. And the Whitney Museum is about to relocate. And you could download tunes like Christmas in Harlem, to get you in the mood before departure. Or perhaps you prefer something more quirky, then you could opt for Fashion Crisis Hits New York by The Frank & Walters. And you have lots more options for that ipod too.

Anthony McCarthy is the author of the 2014 travel book:

New York City, a Guide, a bit Irish, the Light & the Blob………..