When thinking of New York City, most think of tall buildings and crowds of people rushing to go to their destinations. However, add in the holidays, and New York City transforms into a whole new magical sight. The holiday season in New York City is one filled with laughter and joy. Regardless if you’re a  resident or visitor, anyone can witness the decked out Christmas lights and decorations adorned around each street corner that make the city incomparable to New York during the holiday season. 

New York City has numerous holiday markets to interest many, but the one all Christmas enthusiasts look forward to is the Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park. Filled with holiday gift shops and various sources of entertainment, Bryant Park is a must-see destination that satisfies anyone. 

What is Bryant Park’s Winter Village?

Every year, the Manhattan park transforms into a European-inspired, open-air Christmas market,  displaying over 170 holiday shops by Urbanspace that features artisans from New York and around the world. Located along Bryant Park’s allées, plazas, and terraces, the shops are custom-designed with hundreds of “jewel box” kiosks and a glamorous rink right in the middle. 

The Winter Bryant Park first introduced the holiday shops in 2002 as a way to draw people to the green space during the Christmas season. The first village featured only 80 vendors during its initial event. In 2005,  the free-admission skating rink was added along with more options for artisans and food vendors. 

The Rink

The Rink, as the main attraction, draws most to the park.  The 17,000 square foot ice skating rink is the only New York City rink to offer free admission ice skating. The rink also offers high quality rental skates for those who don’t own their own pair. This year, the rink opened on October 28th, 2022 and will close on March 5th, 2023. 

Plenty of preparations go into opening the rink for the public. The rink’s ice is made on site and kept cold with chillers a week prior to the season opening.  

“We are building up that ice layer, constantly adding layers and freezing it to make sure we get the right quality of ice for the public,” said Kati Solomon, the director of operations for the Bryant Park Corporation. 

This multi-layered ice is then used in the skating rink and is cleaned and smoothed as needed for “ice cut” by Zambonis. For safety measures and convenience, the park installs a large deck around the rink and builds “Skating Pavilion” — a spot for lockers and skate rentals. 

Entertainment 

Ice skating is not everyone’s forte, so Bryant Park offers plenty of other sources of amusement, such as their infamous Curling Café, the first-ever iceless curling experience. Curling is a sport where players slide stones on a sheet of ice (in this case, a lane) toward a target area which is divided up into four similar circles. The goal of this sport is to send the stone from one side of the sheet (the lane) to the circular scoring area on the other side which is referred to as the house. The closer to the center of the house, which is called the button, the more points. At the Curling Café, two teams of up to 4 people each can experience iceless curling for 90 minutes with their dedicated curling lane.

Not in the mood for ice skating and curling? No worries, because Bryant Park offers rented heated igloos that overlooks the ice-skating rink. Surrounded by the midtown skyscrapers, up to eight people can relax and enjoy festive food and drinks in these cozy domes. 

The Lodge 

Walking around Bryant Park can be cold and tiring, but so the park offers the perfect solution with The Lodge. Their covered, outdoor après-themed area allows for visitors to rest and grab one of the many festive drinks, enjoy delicious food, watch the ice skaters, or admire the tree. With its seasonal pop-up bar and food hall made up of local eateries.

 The Lodge provides an enchanted holiday feeling from their exquisite festive menu and exclusive drinks that people of all ages can enjoy. Across the park, there are countless booths whipping up sugary holiday favorites from around the world where one can find everything from gingerbread and arepas to bao and baked cheese.

The Holiday Shops

What is a winter village without its holiday shops? The highly anticipated part of Bryant Park’s Winter Village is notably their hundreds of shops displayed throughout the park. From jewelry to cheese, these shops offer unique gifts that appeal to any crowd. What is special about The Winter Village is their small business spotlight as small businesses have the opportunity to offer their products to customers. 

A note-worthy shop is Dr. Silkman’s Body Emporium, a body-lotion candle shop that has been at the Winter Village for 11 years. Dr. Silkman specializes in turning scented candles into moisturizing lotion. Customers simply choose their favorite scent from the all-natural, aromatherapy-inspired candle collection, light the wick, and let it melt. The wax then becomes a super-rich lotion that’s great for dry hands and body.  Dr. Silkman’s also offers organic hand-cut bar soaps and shaving kits with irresistible scents and moisturizing properties. 

“Our all-natural Body Lotion Candles are by far our biggest seller. People love that you can stick your finger in the melted candle and use it as lotion,” said business owner and creator, Dr. Silkman. 

“My favorite shop had to be Sabyloo, a shop that sells merchandise with different pets pictured. I remember walking by and seeing them selling socks that had my dog’s breed on them. I was instantly sold at how cute they looked. I love wearing them and they’re so soft. It’s also nice to know that a percentage of their sales goes to various rescue groups in the U.S. and abroad,” said Andrew Morrissey ’23. 

On Sabyloo’s website, the company notes, “The most fulfilling part of it all is the joy on the face of each customer who discovers their beloved pet represented on any one of our products.” 

These holiday shops aren’t limited to just gifts. They also include different cuisines, such as the crowd-favorite Whoopie from the Whoopie Company. A Whoopie is a multi-layered cookie made from Belgium chocolate. What makes Belgium chocolate popular is how comforting and forward it tastes. Belgian chocolate is finely milled to 18 microns, below the feeling of the tongue’s taste buds. This avoids having a grainy taste in the mouth when the chocolate melts on the tongue, making it very enjoyable. With different flavors, customers have the opportunity to taste the magic that comes from the love and passion made in each cookie. 

The holiday shops closed on January 2nd, 2023, but they will return for the next holiday season!  

Bryant Park’s Winter Village is the perfect place to find that unique holiday gift, to ice-skate, or even just walk around and feast on the appetizing foods available. Whenever you need to find a little holiday spirit, look no further than this jolly Winter Village.

“My favorite shop had to be Sabyloo, a shop that sells merchandise with different pets pictured. I remember walking by and seeing them selling socks that had my dog’s breed on them. I was instantly sold at how cute they looked. I love wearing them and they’re so soft. It’s also nice to know that a percentage of their sales goes to various rescue groups in the U.S. and abroad,” said Andrew Morrissey ’23.