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NEW YORK, UNBOWED, UNBEATEN, CELEBRATES CHRISTMAS |
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The Rockefeller rink is so much a part of New York's Christmas scene that shoppers from nearby Fifth Avenue constantly mob the area. Some are there for a weekend breakfast at the American Festival Cafe, which looks out on the skaters, while others seek the special "Christmas feast" on December 25, when favorite yule dishes of a century ago are served. |
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Still others come for the "skating with
Santa" sessions or just for the pleasure of watching the way
the most extravagant sheet of ice in America captivates those who
skate on it. The skaters at the Rockefeller are no happier than
those on the ice at the Wollman Memorial Rink in Central Park. Closed
for eight winters, it finally was completed when Donald Trump took
over the repairs, his personal Christmas gift to New York. The Wollman
Rink has a skating area of 32,000 square feet. |
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For several years hotels like the Peninsula and the Plaza have offered special packages at the holidays. The Plaza, for example, has lavish decorations including a 25-foot trimmed tree and a 7-foot gingerbread house and offers hot malt cider for guests in the 59th Street lobby. For many New Yorkers, the Plaza is the Palm Court in the central lobby with its oasis of Italian caryatids, French mirrors and subtropical greenery, where two delightful old musicians still perform, easing, for example, the sweet sounds of "Danny Boy" over tired shoppers who've been out exploring the Christmas offerings in America's fanciest storefronts. |
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