Rockerfeller and Photos

Christmas has arrived in New York, and nothing epitomizes Christmas in New York like Rockefeller Center. Rockefeller Center is a four block long and two block wide piece of real estate that sits between Fifth and Seventh Ave. in the heart of mid-town Manhattan and buzzes with tourists at Christmas. In this rectangular space lie some of New York’s most famous icons; 1. The Christmas tree, an 84 foot Norway spruce stands majestically above the Rockefeller ice rink. 2. Rockefeller Ice Rink, made famous in Woody Allen movies. 3. The ‘Rockettes’ are playing at Radio City Music Hall and 4. new sculpture called Penny Harvest containing over $1 million dollars worth of pennies.

The Christmas spirit really starts in October in the most consumer driven nation in the world. Children’s toy adds start playing on television in October. Shops or stores as they are known here, start to advertise Christmas savings/specials/discounts/gift cards and store credit. I was looking at TV. this week and some financial guru said that Americans spend more money than they make. So if your income is 80,000 dollars you are spending 85,000 dollars a year. The money Americans don’t have is provided by American Express, Visa and MasterCard at hefty interest rates.

As I walk to work up Ninth Ave., I pass Christmas trees lined up like soldiers outside every deli and bodega. The smell of pine needles filled the air this morning. The streets seem new as if washed from the rain the night before. A flock of pigeons grey and white pigeons swooped and spiraled carelessly in the air, oblivious to the buses and cars passing below.