New York City is a holiday destination. The city hosts many holiday themed pop-ups that are a big hit for tourists, commuters and residents alike. Every year, Bryant Park, Union Square, Central Park and Rockefeller Center open after Halloween; however, for 2025, the city is opening each location a little bit earlier.
Bryant Park
The Bryant Park Bank of America Winter Village opened Oct. 24 and runs until Jan. 4, 2026. It features over 180 new and returning merchants. Like previous years, the small holiday shops as well as free shaking admission and the food hall will be open for the holiday season.
The shops worth visiting, according to viral tiktoks, are No Chewing Allowed (a truffle candy and hot chocolate vendor), Baked Cheese Haus (a sandwich vendor who emphasizes the cheese) and Doughnuttery (a miniature donut vendor). Obviously, Bryant Park does not just have food vendors, they also have apparel, artwork, gifts, health, holiday, home and kids.
Union Square
Much like Bryant Park, Union Square has numerous pop-up shops that sell different genres of items. A little later than Bryant Park, Union Square sets to open their holiday event on Nov. 13 and will host until Dec. 24. It will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
A hot spot in Union Square is “liquid s’more,” a hot chocolate vendor that sells a chocolate cup with a marshmallow fluff rim, toasted, then finished with graham crackers.
Central Park
The east side of Central Park features a 33,000 square foot ice rank. For a fee, customers can skate on the Wollman Rink with a rich holiday history. The Lake has been welcoming visitors since the winter of 1858. Wollman Rink was built in 1950 over the northernmost section of the water.
Central Park also hosts a holiday gift shop, a light parade and sing-a-long location. The Park is home of the Bethesda Terrace that is featured in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, so movie fans can live out their Kevin McAllister dreams.
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is the face of the holiday season with the large christmas tree and major ice rink. This season, the Rockefeller Christmas Tree will be up Nov. 8.
It stands at 75 feet tall, measures 45 feet in diameter and weighs 11 tons. Even though the tree is going up earlier than normal this year, the lighting tradition still stands – the tree will be lit with the 50,000 multi-colored, energy efficient LED lights on roughly five miles of wire and topped with a Swarovski star Dec. 3.
The holidays are right around the corner, and it’s very clear with New York City setting up their festivities.