Cheap and Free NYC Holiday Guide 2010! (Both Parts!)

Hi all, still am really busy, but here are plenty of activities to keep you busy through the end of the month (I'll still post regular weekend picks for this weekend (inc. more holiday fun!) You may be on your own for the Xmas w/e, but I'll have time to work on other posts too! I'm also already at work on a fabulous New Year's Eve Guide, plenty cheap and free ways to ring in the new year! At last much delayed, but hopefully anticipated, the Cheap Chick NYC Holiday 2010!


Cheap Chick Holiday Guide, Part One

Nov. 26-Dec. 24, 2010, Miracle on 34^th St. Puppet Show at Macy’s! Musical Marionettes tell the famous story. Wonder if they have reindeer puppets? Shows run continuously from 9:30 a.m., Macy’s Herald Square, Express Elevators @ 35th & Broadway, just $5!

Dec. 1-31, 2010, Donate to the New York Cares Coat Drive, and help others keep warm during this chilly winter weather! http://www.newyorkcares.org/volunteer/holiday_volunteering/coat_drive

Dec. 2-Jan.9, 2011, Sugar and spice and everything nice, that’s what you’ll find at Le Parker Meridien’s annual gingerbread house show (or what little girls are made of…) Either way, gaze upon houses inspired by “Movies Made in New York!” Le Parker Meridien Hotel, 119 W. 56th St., your $1 donations lets you vote for your favorite abode, and goes to City Harvest! http://www.parkermeridien.com/gingerbread.php

Dec. 10, 2010, Xmas Pop Singalong, Harmonize with classic holiday videos like N’Sync’s Home for Christmas, while enjoying treats like milk and cookies! 9 p.m., Legion, 790 Metropolitan Ave @ Humboldt St., free (food extra)!

Dec. 10 and 11, 2010, Share your holiday with the Griswald clan (or be glad they’re not your family) as they celebrate in the classic National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Midnight Friday and Saturday, Landmark Sunshine, $9.99!

Dec. 11, 2010, Don a red hat, white beard, and suit with your fellow Santaphiles to celebrate SantaCon in NYC. Details yet to be revealed, but check here for info as it becomes available: http://santacon.info/New_York-NY/?p=7

Dec. 12, 2010, Bust out your wallet and get some holiday shopping done at the Bust magazine Holiday Craft Fair, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Metropolitan Pavilion, 123 W. 18^th bet. 5^th and 6^th, $2!

Dec. 17-24, 2010, It’s a Wonderful Life hits the big screen at the IFC just in time for the holidays! Listen closely for bells ringing during the screening of this perennial holiday favorite! Times and price will be listed here when available: http://www.ifccenter.com/films/its-a-wonderful-life/

Dec. 21, 2010, Take a Winter Solstice Walking Tour of Central Park with Big Onion, 1 p.m., “Manhattan's collective backyard is actually the largest man-made work of art in the city. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux as a place of spiritual uplift, today New Yorkers use it for much more. Stops could include: the Sheep Meadow, Belvedere Castle, the Lake, the Ramble, Bow Bridge, Seneca Village, the Casino, and the site of the "rocking chair" riot.” Meet at the northeast corner of 66th Street and Central Park West, $15!

Dec, 21, 2010, Take in a screening of “Pocketful of Miracles” at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, Bruno Walter Auditorium, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, 2:30 p.m., free!

Dec. 22, 2010-Jan. 2, 2011, Nutcracker performances by the American Ballet Theater, prices starting at $20, http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=2497

Dec. 24, 2010. Walk off those Christmas cookie calories with Big Onion's Christmas Stroll in Greenwich Village walking tour. "Stroll through New York's unique and legendary home to artists, writers and radicals, with a special emphasis on the history and architecture of this neighborhood. Stops could include: the Jefferson Market Courthouse, the "hanging elm", the Stonewall Inn, Grove Court, and sites associated with Stanford White, Aaron Burr, Edith Wharton, John Sloan, and Thomas Paine." 1 p.m., Meet at the Northeast corner of Seventh Avenue South and Christopher Street, in front of Duplex, $15!

Dec. 25, 2010, Today the Jewish folks can walk off their Chinese food calories with Big Onion's annual Christmas Day Jewish Lower East Side Tour! "Join us as we walk through more than 150 years of Jewish history and settlement on the legendary Lower East Side. Stops include: the Eldridge Street Synagogue, the Jewish Daily Forward building, legendary Hester Street, the founding site of the B'nai B'rith as well as sites associated with Abraham Cahan, Emma Goldman, Jacob Riis, and Leonard Baskin." 1 p.m., Meet at Southeast corner of Delancey and Essex Streets, in front of the Olympic Diner, $15!

Now-Jan 9, 2011, Haunt the Morgan Library to catch a glimpse of the original hand-edited manuscript of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Morgan Library, 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, $15 (free on Friday nights, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Now-Jan 6, 2011, You might turn green with envy when you see the wreaths on display here, Monday through Fri, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Central Park Arsenal, East Side near 64^th Street, third floor, free!

Now through Feb. 27, 2011, Learn about different religions and ponder the religions behind Dec. celebrations at the NYPL’s Three Faiths exhibit at the Stephen Schwartzman branch (40^th and 5^th) and be sure to admire the holiday decorations on your way out! http://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/three-faiths-judaism-christianity-islam, free!

Other Holiday/Winter Diversions!

Free ice skating at the Pond at Bryant Park (through Feb. 27, 2011), skate rental is $13! http://thepondatbryantpark.com/

Get some Christmas shopping done at the Grand Central, Bryant Park, Union Square, and Columbus Circle holiday shops.

Play tourist and watch ice skaters at the Rockefeller ice skating rink and take a peek at the Christmas tree while you’re there!

Sip holiday treats like peppermint or salted caramel hot chocolate, or gingerbread lattes from Starbucks!

On Sundays this month ride vintage holiday trains along the M line from Queens Plaza to Second Avenue!

Visit the Transit Museum’s Annex for the holiday train show! http://www.mta.info/mta/museum/whatsnew.htm

Have your own polar train ride at the New York Botanical Garden’s holiday train show! http://www.nybg.org/hts09, $20 before Dec. 21, $25 afterward!

See the holiday window decorations!

Lord & Taylor (424 Fifth Avenue at 38th Street)
Bergdorf Goodman (Fifth Avenue and 57th Street)
Saks Fifth Avenue (611 Fifth Avenue)
Barneys New York (660 Madison Avenue at 61st St.)
Bloomingdale’s (Lexington Avenue between 59th Street and 60th Street)
Macy’s (Herald Square, between 34th and 35th on Broadway)

Also Housing Works Bookstore is giving all shoppers 10 percent off as a holiday thank you, you can check out these wintertime activities at the Bronx Zoo (http://www.bronxzoo.com/plan-your-trip/events-calendar/holiday-glee.aspx), and view the Origami tree at Natural History Museum (http://www.amnh.org/calendar/event/Origami-Holiday-Tree) and the Creche (that’s an eighteenth-century Neapolitan Nativity scene to you and me!) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (http://www.metmuseum.org/special/se_event.asp?OccurrenceId={5A2CA065-24B2-4653-AEBF-00CC8E050640)!