There’s nothing like Fifth Avenue during the holiday season with its festive windows, glittery holiday decorations and congested sidewalks crammed with shoppers, tourists and street vendors.
The pageantry begins to materialize Nov. 19 at 5 p.m., when the 30-foot-wide crystal Fifth Avenue Snowflake lights up 50 feet above the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street. It’s been a Fifth Avenue holiday fixture since 1984 and was recently renovated with 16,500 crystals and high-intensity color LED lights. The snowflake is funded by Tiffany & Co., Bergdorf Goodman, Brookfield Properties, Bulgari, The Plaza, Van Cleef & Arpels, The Stonbely Family Foundation and the Fifth Avenue Snowflake Foundation for Humanity.
Related Articles
“The mood is gung ho. Retailers are feeling positive. They’re expecting a strong holiday season,” said Madelyn Wils, the chief executive officer of the Fifth Avenue Association business improvement district covering Fifth Avenue from 46th to 61st Streets and 57th Street from Madison to Sixth Avenues. The BID works to promote the retailers, hotels, restaurants, cultural institutions and landmarks on the avenue in Midtown.
You May Also Like
According to Wils, the optimism springs from “good consistency” in the retail business, generally along the avenue so far this year. “We have been seeing much more domestic tourism post-COVID[-19]. It’s pretty strong but international tourism is down on Fifth Avenue and generally in New York City,” she said.
According to the BID, Fifth Avenue was responsible for 203,000 direct jobs producing $47.6 billion in direct wages last year, while over $6.17 billion in total taxable sales were generated. Each block face has capacity for approximately 4,000 pedestrians yet serves approximately 5,500 pedestrians an hour on an average day and up to 23,000 people an hour during the holidays. “That’s more people than Madison Square Garden can hold,” Wils said. But the holiday season density, she acknowledged, makes Fifth Avenue difficult to navigate and shop. “There isn’t that much we can do,” Wils said. “The sidewalks are very congested with obstructions. Fifth Avenue should be a more pedestrian-friendly boulevard and much more welcoming and beautiful.”
That could become a reality in a few years considering the city plans to invest $350 million to transform the Fifth Avenue streetscape between Bryant Park and Central Park, widening the sidewalks by 50 percent, reducing the avenue from five lanes to three lanes, as well as adding trees, planters and benches so it’s easier and more pleasant to walk the avenue. Crosswalks will become shorter making for safer streets.
Fifth Avenue is 100 feet wide with two 23-foot sidewalks on either side. Aside from the $350 million to transform the streetscape, the city continues to investigate the infrastructure below ground to determine what upgrades are needed. The project is the first major redesign of Fifth Avenue in 120 years. Last year, the thoroughfare celebrated its bicentennial. Officials expect the project will pay for itself in less than five years through increased property and sales tax revenue.
The plan, called The Future of Fifth, is in the engineering phase, said Wils. “We have schematic designs. We are about to move on really understanding what’s below ground and how that affects the streetscape.”
Construction could begin in early 2028. “It’s a complicated project,” said Wils. The BID, the city and other entities working on Fifth Avenue’s transformation, “are taking the time to make sure we get this right,” she said. “It’s about making Fifth Avenue more international-looking in a way that befits the avenue and our city.”
The Fifth Avenue BID works with organizations, artists, brands, retailers and the city to dress up and prepare the avenue for the holidays and arrange for several attractions which this year include:
- On Nov. 21, trees along Fifth Avenue from 47th to 59th Street will again emit the scents of pomegranate, mandarin orange, pine, cloves, cinnamon, and hints of vanilla and amber provided by Nest New York with interactive displays and life-sized caricatures by artist Donald “Drawberston” Robertson.
- The “Le Chalet Longchamp on Fifth” sidewalk café opens at Longchamp’s flagship, 645 Fifth Avenue, on Nov. 21 through Jan. 5, serving Parisian treats and beverages from Angelina Paris.
- On Dec. 14 from noon to 6 p.m., 48th to 55th Streets will be closed to vehicular traffic for live music, food and beverage, exclusive products and immersive pop-ups from Fifth Avenue retailers, hotels and restaurants. There will be local food vendors and performances by the LaGuardia High School Show Choir, The New School, Brooklyn United, Sing Harlem, and choirs from Fifth Avenue Presbyterian, The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, and Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. Open Streets is made possible through a partnership with the city and its department of transportation.
- On Saturdays, walking tours highlighting the avenue during the holidays return, led by New York Historical Tours’ Kevin Draper.
In addition, Saks Fifth Avenue’s nightly holiday light show on its facade returns Nov. 23, after it was canceled last year.
“It can get very crowded and hectic here, but we are working with the NYPD to have the streets as accessible as possible. We want to keep people happy and moving,” said Wils. “And we have our own security force, about 20 community safety officers and supervisors. Our people are out there every day. Fifth Avenue is very safe, and we have eyes on it all the time.”
Vendors contribute to the congestion, though as Wils noted, they are allowed on the side streets near the corners of Fifth Avenue, but many set up shop on the avenue. “There are many illegal vendors, not just on Fifth Avenue, but in many other sections of the city,” Wils noted. “We are having lots of conversations with the NYPD. We’re expecting huge crowds, and just trying to improve access, making sure the vendors are where they are supposed to be, and keeping the doors of building and shops clear…There’s nowhere in the world like Fifth Avenue during the holidays. It’s pure magic.”