Landscape, Nature and Travel Photography

When people think of places that exemplify the holidays New York city often comes to mind whether because of movies past or just because many of the morning news programs are filmed in downtown New York city. This past weekend my wife and I returned to Manhattan to take in all that New York had to offer for the holidays. As always it proved to be quite a bit of fun from watching the kids and adults a like being awed by Macy’s Christmas store displays, visiting Rockefeller Center to see the ice skaters and Christmas tree and having a surprise opportunity to photograph Mayor Michael Bloomberg amid TV crews and his security detail.

“Naughty Or Nice”

Looking for their names on the “Naughty or Nice” list

A packed crowd surrounds the Rockefeller Christmas Tree and Ice Skating Rink. This year had more traffic restrictions for pedestrians and it was extremely chaotic and difficult to move around. This also marked the first year of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree being “green”. LED lights were used rather than traditional bulbs and part of the power to the tree was provided via solar panels on top of Rockefeller Center. Most notably there were no snowflake projections on the buildings as there were last year. (see New York Christmas) LED lights definitely gave the tree a different look.

Common Cents Penny Harvest Field and Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree
Up close and personal with over $1,000,000 in change in the heart of Rockefeller Center. In the background is the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.
commoncents.org

This year a huge field of change was in Rockefeller Center as part of a charity fund raiser to help local communities. All this change was gathered by local students.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg being interviewed by a local television news crew about the Common Cents charity event in Macy’s flagship store.

More of Mayor Michael Bloomberg being interviewed by a local television news crew about the Common Cents charity event in Macy’s flagship store.

The full scene of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s television interview about the Common Cents event in Rockefeller Center.

Technorati Tags: New York, NYC, Manhattan, New York City, Macy’s, window display, Common Cents, Penny Harvest, Penny Harvest Field, charity, Christmas, happy holidays, Bloomberg, Mayor Michael Bloomberg