According to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the total number of tourists in New York City for 2011 will likely reach 50 million. Last year there were 48.8 million tourists, and direct visitor spending was $31.5 billion.

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree 

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, which will come down on January 7, is illuminated from 5:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. daily, except on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. On Christmas, the tree is illuminated for 24 hours and on New Year’s Eve the lights go off at 9:00 p.m. The Christmas tree is typically a Norway Spruce and should be at least 65 feet tall and 35 feet wide. Over five miles of lights are used to decorate the tree every year. It is recycled and the 3 tons of mulch are donated to the Boy Scouts. Part of the trunk is given to an equestrian team in New Jersey to use as an obstacle jump.

The first Rockefeller Christmas tree in 1931. Photo: http://bit.ly/thDL54

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in 2011. Photo: Carolina Kung

Macy’s Windows

Every year, Macy’s, at 151 W. 34th Street, features two series of window displays; one set depicts scenes from the Christmas film “Miracle on 34th Street,” and a second set is new each year. The window displays are typically unveiled in early- to mid-November, and are always on view in time for Thanksgiving.

2011 “Make A Wish” Window Displays: This year Macy’s windows are inspired by a partnership with Make A Wish, a foundation that grants the wishes of children of children with life-threatening medical conditions. Through a touch screen, visitors can design their own ornaments, which can then be purchased.

Last minute Chistmas Eve shoppers gather in front of Macy's window display in New York, Dec. 24, 1946. Photo: AP/Carl Nesensohn.

Macy’s “Make a Wish” window display on December 2011. Photo: Anna Irrera

Skating at Rockefeller Center

A couple skate, after getting engaged on the Rockefeller ice rink in December 2011. Photo: Anna Irrera.

Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and his wife Ethel ice skate at a party for staff at Rockefeller Center Ice Skating rink in New York City, Jan. 24, 1968. Photo: AP/Marty Lederhandler

Saks Fifth Avenue’s Window Displays
This year’s windows at Saks Fifth Avenue, “Land of the Bubble Makers,” continue the storybook theme with Holly visiting the land of the bubble makers. Each window illustrates a scene from the story and features fashions as well.

The Saks Fifth Avenue “Land of the Bubble Makers” window display in December 2011. Photo: Anna Irrera.

The Saks Fifth Avenue window display in December 1920. (Photo: http://bit.ly/thDL54)

Macy’s Santa

Macy's Santa Claus in 1942. Photo: http://bit.ly/thDL54

Macy’s Santa Claus poses for pictures in front of the store’s entrance in December 2011. Photo: Anna Irrera.

With its high pedestrian traffic, Midtown provides a great economic opportunity for budding newsstand owners. But the high pedestrian traffic also limits where stands can open. Photo: Jason Slotkin

Software developer Abhay Mehta says that among sisters, cousins, aunts, and uncles, his Indian-American family owns nearly 30 newsstands in New York, including his father’s stand on West 36^thand Broadway, which he has owned since 1996.

In 2003, Mehta’s father set out to open his second stand. He submitted the application, the fee, and a design of the stand that the city could use to evaluate the newsstand request. This application was rejected, says Mehta. “We do understand [the process] but a person like my dad, who is 76 years old now, they just want to make a living,” said Mehta.

For aspiring newsstand owners, opening one can be a long, complicated, and costly process, and all these efforts may end in rejection.

The owner submits a plan that details where the stand will sit, along with an application, letters to the owners of nearby buildings, and a $269 fee, which can increase to over $1000 depending on the time of year the application is submitted. The application is reviewed by the city’s transportation department, the local Community Review Board, The Art Commission, and sometimes the city’s landmark preservation department.

That’s just for the stand. Selling cigarettes requires another application. Having lotto tickets requires installing a phone line. But according to Mehta, these are two of the biggest-selling items at his family’s stands.

An approved newsstand owner goes into business having spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars, just to set up a stand that will provide him a sustainable wage and the prospect of being his own boss. But increasing costs and declining sales for products like magazines has made the newsstand business even harder.

“Right now the business on the newsstands is more than candy, soda, newspapers, cigarettes, if you’re lucky,” said Mehta.

The city must first determine that the newsstand won’t take too much sidewalk space and cause congestion for pedestrians who file down a Manhattan sidewalk each day.

High-traffic streets provide a desirable calculus for any newsstand owner – an almost limitless supply of commuters, tourists, and other pedestrians who may buy a copy of the Daily News or a pack of cigarettes on the way to their destinations.

The city’s process requires several reviews and a final approval by the Department of Consumer Affairs, which bases it decision on a “feasible” review by Department of Transportation to decide if a proposed newsstand will block sidewalk traffic.

There are currently more than 100 newsstands in Midtown, a level of saturation that makes it even more difficult to get approved.

Multiple applicants apply and get rejected for these same spots. Tom Cusick, president of the Fifth Ave. Business improvement District , says his group has lobbied for a newsstand moratorium on some of the street’s busier corners.

“I’ve tried to get the city, especially the consumer affairs department and department of transportation, to give a notice for any applicant who applies for a Fifth Ave. newsstand within this district,” said Cusick.

Cusick most recently aired his complaints about a newsstand application at Community Board Five meeting.

The board listens to local business people, residents and applicants, a more “subjective” process, says Ron Dwenger, chair of the committee that reviews applications on behalf the board, because that board members see the pedestrian traffic levels themselves on a daily basis.

The transportation department’s assessments of pedestrian traffic levels, which are calculated based on peak hours, are something the board hopes to change.“I know that a lot of them pass Department of Transportation when we suggest that the pedestrian area is too heavily traveled,” said Dwenger.

The board now has a potential ally in City Council member Daniel Garodnick, whose office is currently looking for ways to update the process. “It’s time to revisit the criteria for approving a newsstand.  Sidewalk space is increasingly precious, and communities want to offer meaningful input as to where a newsstand is appropriate — so it is worth our looking more closely at whether the rules are responsive to the needs of our residents,” said Garodick in a statement emailed from his press office.

There’s no doubt that a streamline of the process would help the newsstand owner, according to Mehta, who says the time it takes for an application to get from “desk” to “desk” has discouraged newsstand applicants for re-applying. “ That’s where the process gets slow and people give up,” said Mehta.

Diego Rivera's "The Uprising," (1931) is one of the featured portable, fresco murals on display at the Museum of Modern Art, located at 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. The exhibition, Diego Rivera: Murals for the Museum of Modern Art, runs though May 2012. Photo: Museum of Modern Art

New York has not always been kind to Diego Rivera’s work.  In fact, Nelson Rockefeller holds the dubious distinction of destroying one of the artist’s most influential murals, Man at the Crossroads, in 1934 because of startling, political imagery that created controversy at the mural’s home, the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center. However, now Rivera is receiving a hero’s welcome from the Museum of Modern Art with an exhibition of his portable frescoes.

Since mid-November, MoMa, located on 53^rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, has been celebrating Rivera in its newest exhibition titled Diego Rivera:  Murals for the Museum of Modern Art.  The homecoming for Rivera is the second exhibition at MoMA featuring the Mexican artist’s murals; Rivera’s first installation of frescoes ran a five-week stint between December 1931 and January 1932.

“The story of this extraordinary commission offers insights into the aims of the Museum during its initial years, and also reminds us of the international relevance of Rivera’s work during the Great Depression–a period of economic and political crisis,” said Jodi Roberts, a curatorial assistant at MoMA who specializes in 20^th century Latin American art. “This exhibition allows us to explore that period again, and reveals Rivera to be a highly cosmopolitan figure who played a crucial role in shaping international debates about the value of public art.”

Roberts believes Rivera invented the “portable” fresco, the method used when the museum invited Rivera six weeks before his 1931 exhibition to craft the movable murals.  “The portable murals on view also demonstrate Rivera’s incredible command of fresco technique—a medium he considered ideal for creating works intended for a large audience,” said Roberts.  This was a revolutionary idea to mural making at the time.

Fresco is a “’race against drying,’” said Daniel Okrent, author of Great Fortune:  The Epic of Rockefeller Center.  It involves a grueling and meticulous process, where Rivera’s assistants had to apply fresh plaster and wipe it down on two-yard sections of the giant mural before Rivera could begin.  “Then Rivera had about 18 hours to conjure the world he had created in sketch and commit it to the wall before the plaster began to set,” said Okrent.  Rivera used powdered clays and metal oxides to make “the cobalt blues and Venetian reds and other vivid hues that gave all his work its extraordinary, vibrating life.”

“The portable murals allowed Rivera to show works in fresco —the painting technique he used to create his monumental mural cycles in Mexico—to a New York audience,” said Roberts.

Underlying themes of social and political revolution remain at the heart of Rivera’s artwork and message.  “This exhibition allows visitors to explore the types of subjects Rivera devised in the course of his career to address themes of political revolution and advance the cause of workers’ rights,” said Leah Dickerman, curator for the Museum of Modern Art.

Not only do Rivera’s motifs speak to a Latin American audience, they also speak uniquely to New York City. Many patrons of the museum are familiar with Rivera’s mural cycles in Mexico but yearn to understand Rivera’s approach to working in New York City.  “This show underscores Rivera’s intense engagement with current events in New York and reveals that he was keenly aware of his surroundings,” said Dickerman.

“Rivera crafted his images carefully to express both his fascination with the city’s advanced industry and relay his revolutionary social and political ideals to a New York audience,” said Roberts.  “It shows that he was very much in a dialogue with New York artists of the period and at home in the city’s art world.”

Welcoming the return of Rivera’s work, the Museum rekindles the fervor surrounding the 1931 exhibition, and also engenders a new conversation.  “We have taken this opportunity to commemorate the 1931-32 exhibition and recognize Rivera’s incredible importance to the international art world of the 1930s,” said Dickerman.

‘“The show underscores that [Rivera’s] work played a crucial role in vigorous debates about the value of public art during a politically and economically volatile moment in history. As such, it raises thought-provoking questions about the role of public art today,” said Roberts.

Both Dickerman and Roberts reference Rivera’s 1933 public mural Man at the Crossroads, commissioned by Rockefeller to adorn the RCA building (more commonly known as the GE Building or 30 Rock) in Rockefeller Center on 49^th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues.  Okrent, scheduled to give a lecture on the Rivera exhibition at MoMa on Jan. 4, devoted a chapter of Great Fortune to the controversy surrounding Man at the Crossroads for the RCA Building.

Except the mural no longer lives there; it was destroyed amid political controversy.

A downfall to Rivera’s egoism was his effervescent and controversial politics. Focusing on completing the mural by May 1, 1933, the same day the RCA building would open, Rivera portrayed his vision of Russian revolutionary and politician Vladimir Lenin, which signified Rivera’s portrayal of communism within the mural.  Rivera “painted to please the working classes and considered ‘hostility and attack from the enemies of workers’ the highest of compliments,” said Okrent.

Rivera invited the press for a private tour before the debut of the mural, and newspapers slammed the Rockefellers for allowing Rivera to depict communism in the mural.  While communism may be incongruous with Rockefeller’s and America’s politics, Rivera would not budge on his position, stating, “I am a worker.  I am painting for my class—the working class.

“’I paint what I see,” said Rivera defending his mural.

Concerned the mural would not be well received, Nelson Rockefeller wrote a letter to Rivera urging him to make substitutions for the communism imagery.  “[Nelson] said nothing about the rampaging police, nothing about the May Day parade, nothing about the syphilitic spirochetes and gonorrheal bacteria swirling over the heads of card-playing socialites,” said Okrent describing other quarrelsome themes within the mural.  “Lenin alone was the offense.”

To mask the controversy of Lenin, the Rockefellers ordered the mural be covered, and eventually destroyed the artwork nine months later during the mural’s removal from the RCA Building.

“This may have been the Rockefellers’ wall, but it was [Rivera’s] painting,”  said Okrent.

However, a sketch of Man at the Crossroads can now be found on display in the Rivera mural exhibition at MoMa, preserving Rivera’s artistry at least.  Diego Rivera:  Murals for the Museum of Modern Art runs through May 14.

Jack Fertig, a converted Muslim, doesn’t mind going to holiday parties in December. He was formerly Catholic, so he knows about Christmas. And he grew up half Jewish, loving potato latkes, so the Hanukkah parties are all right, even preferred.

The San Francisco-based astrologer said he approaches the parties as a time to celebrate peace and togetherness, even though being Muslim and gay is isn’t usually reflected in the holiday movies and sparkling decorations.

Despite increased awareness, parties and worship services have not always been welcoming to the LGBTQ community. Advocacy groups, cultural organizations and mainstream religious institutions have stepped in to ensure safe spaces to worship, especially at a time when the holidays are on almost every American’s mind.

Park Avenue Christian Church, often called The Park, is listed on the gay-affirming institution directory on a website for gay Christians, GayChurch.com. Rev. Jennifer Kottler, the Park’s associate pastor, estimates that about 25 percent of the 175-person congregation identifies as LGBTQ.

Built in 1945, The Park describes itself as “one of the most vibrant and progressive communities of faith in New York City,” according to the website. It has done outreach to the gay community since the early 1990’s, a decision that Kottler said “was never a question”.

“We have a lot of gay couples, we have a lot of straight couples, we have a lot of couples that in other communities would stand out – but in our congregation it’s hard to stand out as different,” Kottler said.

From the stories she has heard, Kottler said that not all New York churches are safe spaces, and gay members of The Park’s congregation have told her they feel some trepidation about walking into a church without prior research.

The search for places to worship sometimes leads people to organizations like Keshet, an advocacy group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Jews and their straight allies with about 14,000 members nationwide, about 2000 of them in the Boston area.

“It’s frequent that someone’s personal story involves some sort of identity tension between Jewish identity and LGBT identity,” said Asher Bruskin, a Keshet community organizer and trainer based in Boston.

He looks for synagogues and community spaces to hold events and parties, often tipped off by the rainbow flag. Keshet rotates the locations of events in the Boston area to make their services available to more people.

Bruskin, who identifies as transgender and gender queer, a term used to include gender identities beyond male and female, experienced the same dilemma between culture and gender identity while growing up in Wisconsin.

He said moving to Madison, and eventually, Boston, led to finding a community where he felt comfortable. From his experience, he believes many Jewish people who originally found comfort in their cultural settings suddenly find themselves wondering if a LGBTQ atmosphere is a better fit, and if they will have to choose.

“Keshet was personally really affirming,” he said of finding a workplace that allowed him to express both sides of his own identity.

Fertig, who attends Masjid Darussalam in downtown San Francisco, said he has never been asked about his sexual identity at the mosque, although he suspects that any member who has seen his online presence or heard about his political activism might know.

The mosque has participated in interfaith activities, and has a mission to “cultivate a tolerant practice of Islam” and “an American Muslim identity founded on compassion”, according to their website.

While finding gay-affirming mosques, and a gay Muslim community, online is more difficult than with other major religious groups, Fertig said it’s ethnicity and culture, not religion, that put pressure on gay Muslims.

“I think mosques are very much rooted to their ethnic community and very traditional backgrounds,” he said.

Fertig said his own identity as an American convert gave him “less baggage” than many gay Muslims, and didn’t prove to be a difficult transition.

At Keshet services, the religious texts have gender-neutral translations, and the traditional roles, such as the lighting of candles, which has historically been performed by women, do not exist. Members use the Chaverim Kol Yisrael siddur, a text developed by The Progressive Chavurah Siddur Committee of Boston because of the contemporary interpretations.

“It is not explicitly LGBTQ, and it is generally our service leaders who bring in an LGBTQ lens through their kavanot (intentions and teachings),” Bruskin said. “But it gives us an intentionally thoughtful framing.”

Not all LGBQT-friendly religious organizations choose to approach their services this way. At The Park, the traditional scriptures and gospel is used, and the perspective is key to remaining inclusive.

“We understand scripture is holy and inspired but it’s a book of sacred and historical writing, and we look at those critically,” Kottler said.

Navid Ladha, a New York-based Muslim and board member of South Asian Lesbian Gay Association of New York (SALGA-NYC), said some inclusive mosques may change their traditions for services.

While Ladha celebrates Muslim holidays with his family no differently, he said some groups like the Progressive Muslim Association in New York, make small changes in the traditions such as seating the women’s section in a mosque side-by-side with the men, rather than behind them. They also translate passages into English.

Fertig said the Qur’an tells Muslims to explore for themselves, and doesn’t need to be adjusted for an LGBTQ population. He said addressing gender can be likened to any debate about modernizing Islam, including reading the scriptures in English or addressing women’s roles.

“The stories are related by people about people, not the word of God,” he said. “But some people think we should be living like 7^th century Arabs.”

As the American holiday season approaches, the LGBTQ community members who have decided to partake in the festivities might be attending their churches, synagogues or mosques. Or they might opt for something focused more on togetherness than one religion.

“Hanukkah is a joyous and celebratory holiday and it’s a great excuse to come together,” said Bruskin at Keshet.

He predicts that there will be about 75 people at the annual party they will hold on Christmas day, which will include many of the mixed-faith couples affiliated with the organizations. The Denver location will host a holiday part on Dec. 21 dubbed the Chanuqueer Party.

SALGA-NYC members have joined with other local Asian LGBTQ organizations like Q-Wave and the Gay Asian and Pacific Islander Men of New York, GAPIMNY, to host a holiday party on Dec. 16 at Chom Chom on West 56^th Street. Over 1000 people have been invited.

“We are doing something that would interest youth and young people,” said Ladha.

At The Park, Kottler expects over 300 people at each of the three Christmas Eve services later this month. She said the holidays are a time for a lot of people to not only celebrate their biological families, but the ones they have created through community.

“Jesus clearly did not exclude anyone,” she said, of the inclusive holiday services.

Hundreds of people watched the tree-lighting through the raindrops. Photo: Carly MacLeod.

Vanderbilt Hall Holiday Fair

If you’re searching for graphic tees, a sweater for your dog, silk throw pillows or chandeliers made with antique crystals, the Vanderbilt Hall Holiday Fair may suit your tastes. The fair features 76 vendors in Grand Central Terminal through Dec. 24.

Designer Karen Curtis is celebrating her boutique’s eighth consecutive year at the fair. She uses vintage Swarovski crystals to craft colorful bracelets, necklaces, earrings and even lighting fixtures.

“It was only a natural progression, chandelier earrings to actual chandeliers,” she joked.

For Curtis, the history of Grand Central Station and its dependable stream of tourists made it a great location. The recession hasn’t affected business, she said. “It’s the best holiday spot there can be … It’s like a little storefront for the month-and-half.”

But there’s another reason she keeps returning to Vanderbilt Hall. Three years ago, Curtis met glass artist Aaron Niemczyk when they were both running boutiques at the holiday fair. They started designing together in 2009 and married last June. Today, they run Curtis’s store together.

“That doesn’t happen very often,” she added, “to meet a husband at the fair.”

Madison Square Park Christmas Tree Lighting

Holiday spirit was going strong on Tuesday night for Madison Square Park’s 99^th Tree Lighting ceremony. People crowded under shared umbrellas and tents for the nearly century-old New York City tradition. The 30-foot tall Fraser Fir tree glowed with more than 2,000 multi-colored lights. Before the tree was lit, the park staff entertained guests with live Christmas carols and free gingerbread decorating, both of which stayed dry under one of the park’s many white tents as the rain poured down.

“The weather doesn’t affect us,” said Bertie Downs, the park’s special events manager, as she stood under a tent giving away free cider. “Our regulars will come. They’ve supported us through rain, heat and snow.”

On a normal year, Downs said, they expect from 800 to 1,000 people, but she was still optimistic that even on Tuesday’s rainy evening, between 500 to 800 people would show.

“If I were walking home and saw this, I’d definitely stop,” she said. “If you’re looking for something to do, this is fun, and free! And it’s beautiful.”

Union Square and Columbus Circle Holiday Markets

Wooden booths line up side by side.  Garlands festoon the areas as shoppers wind their ways in between stalls, looking at jewelry, hats, scarves, journals, bags and treats.  The holiday markets located at Union Square and Columbus Circle are mirror images of one another; many of the goods that you see at one show up at the other.  Even so, many shoppers still attend both.

If you want a hat, these fairs are good places to find one.  A plethora of furry and animal-shaped hats are for sale.  If you’re working on a budget, though, you may want to look somewhere else; most of them sell for $30 or more.  And if you miss the one you wanted at Columbus Circle, don’t worry.  You can surely find the same exact furry white hat at Union Square.

Yet these fairs don’t just have hats.  They also have jewelry; lots and lots of jewelry.  You can find everything from glass to gold at the two fairs.  In fact, an overwhelming amount of stalls seem to be devoted to these particular shining ornaments.  Though if you look closely, you can find that silver necklace with a magnifying glass for a charm in Union Square as well as Columbus Circle.

Even so, most shoppers seem to be content with the fairs.  A word of warning, though; just attend one.  After all, it’s no fun to go to the same market twice.

The New York's Best Halal Food cart on the southwest corner of 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue keeps a line stretching down the block after 6 PM on November 13, 2011. Photo: Frank Runyeon

The halal cart on 53rd Street and Sixth Avenue is probably the worst-kept secret in the city. If you don’t hear about it from a friend first, it’s hard to miss, even on this busy intersection — a line of hungry patrons stretches down the block.

The Egyptian four-man team at New York’s Best Halal Food chops, scrapes, and scoops mounds of simmering chicken and lamb off the grill and into covered aluminum platters with mechanical efficiency.

“Every day it’s like this,” said customer Nixon Cruzado, looking down the block at the growing line. As he inched closer to the steaming piles of meat, he prepared to put in his order with the first man on the left. “I get the chicken and rice,” Cruzado said.

The cart has become a meaty mecca for tourists as well as New Yorkers. Takayo Kawakami and Sawako Matsuda heard about the spot from their tour guide. On their two-day visit to the city, the Japanese girls chose halal for their last dinner — they weren’t disappointed. Matsuda dubbed the food “delicious.”

“I think I want to eat two,” Kawakami said, carefully pronouncing each word.

Next to Cruzado in line, Black Huang stood waiting to order, having waited for a half hour. “It’s good,” Huang said. “But a bit too spicy.” Can you order it less spicy? He shrugged, “I think they do it one way.” Luckily, it’s possible to balance the hot red sauce with a garlic white sauce, or forgo the spice altogether. The default serving includes both sauces.

As many do, Huang brought his friend from Queens to try it for herself. “It’s my first time!” Chara Chou said excitedly.

The employees, wearing yellow t-shirts or sweatshirts, work a day shift from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and a night shift from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. to feed the after-hours crowds. “I was staying at that hotel and we would see people lined up out there at 1, 2, 3 a.m.,” said Laura Fincher, a visitor from Midlothian, Texas.

She introduced it to her friend Kim Allmon, who recently moved to the city with her husband, Dave. It’s “very spicy, but I’m a weeny,” she said. “It’s one of these things where it’s really spicy, but you can’t stop eating it,” she added. Dave, meanwhile, doesn’t mind the spiciness.

Mustafa Elnagar, the head cook, takes pride in the heat he serves up. “The hot sauce. You know where it comes from?” he asked, pausing dramatically. “Five countries.” They mix together a spicy sauce that uses a combination of ingredients from India, Pakistan, Egypt, Mexico, and U.S., Elnagar explained. “Some of them,” he said referring to his customers with a hint of glee, “they try it and they have the red eyes.”

Their sidewalk service has been on the same corner for 15 years, according to Elnagar. But the success has not gone unexploited. Copycat carts spread out like a halo around the favored food stand.

Don’t be fooled by other vendors wearing yellow shirts, warned Elnagar: “The people try to steal the business.”

To be precise, Elnagar’s cart is on the south curb of 53rd Street about 30 feet west of the avenue. But you’ll see the line first.

Robert Turley, left, and Jongsuk Sung, right in silver coat, explain the significance of Korean cultural artifacts during a museum tour. Photo: Anna Irrera.

Karen Madsen leaned over the glass case, peering with great interest at the assortment of colorful knots; clumps of jewel-colored tassels all consisting of a single, long thread. As she considered the traditional Korean knots, called norigae, Robert Turley explained the knots’ incredible value as artifacts that were difficult to come by, owned only by those who were royal or extremely wealthy.

“It’s really rare to see this many in a display — even in the national collections. Very rare. Some of these pieces would go for six figures,” he added, his tone appropriately awed.

Madsen was one of a small group of people, both of American and Korean ancestry, touring the Lee Young Hee Museum of Korean Culture on 32nd Street, better known as the main drag of Manhattan’s Koreatown. Opened in 2004 at the behest of fashion designer Lee Young Hee, the museum now plays host to monthly cultural events and daily visitors. Almost all of the museum’s 700 pieces were donated by Hee.

Museum owner Jongsuk Sung guided visitors among glass cases of traditional Korean clothing and artifacts, explaining the significance of each — what fabrics were used, what social class a garment represented, even the cultural meaning of different animals.

“Cranes are a symbol of longevity. Tigers are for military officers.” She gestured to a pair of stylized wooden geese wrapped in fabric. “A groom would give this to a wife on their wedding day as a symbol of loyalty, because geese are very loyal to each other.”

The group touring the museum had come because of the Korean Art Society, an organization dedicated to fostering an appreciation for Korean art and culture, of which Robert Turley is president. The organization currently has more than 2,000 members worldwide. In New York, the group frequently holds meetings and classes within the museum, ranging from traditional Korean teatime to cooking classes to examples of traditional music.

“When I came here [to America] 37 years ago, no one knew about Korea,” said Sung, the museum’s owner and director. “People would ask, ‘Do you speak Japanese?’ I was so upset that no one knew! Korea is very proud of our history. We’re very small, but we have 5,000 years of history.”

Sung said the museum is an effort to introduce Americans to Korean culture, to inform them, and to bridge the gap between the two cultures.

“We think Americans should know about Korean to enrich American culture,” she said. “It is also about second-generation Korean mothers, then they can let their children know about their culture. Many Americans only know about the Korean War, but [Korea] has a long history.”

Turley, who developed an interest in Korean culture when he visited the country years ago as a musician, peppered the tour with cultural facts as the group went along.

The one-room museum houses 700 pieces of traditional Korean clothing and artifacts. Photo: Anna Irrera.

“The Korean alphabet is amazing,” he said. “It’s perfectly phonetic. You can learn it in an hour.”

Korean culture is one of the world’s best-kept secrets, Turley said, which is something he’s hoping to change. Already, the society has seen a great deal of interest — many of the society’s earliest organized trips to cultural showcases filled up immediately.

“Organizations charged with promoting Korea, like the government, do a great job of keeping it a secret,” he said. “I keep hoping that attitude will change.”

Turley said few Korean art pieces exist today around the world. Some of the art was lost or destroyed in the years of violence from neighboring countries like China or Japan. Other pieces were burned following a tradition of Tao — a Chinese belief system — that when a person dies, their personal belongings are burned.

Madsen in particular was eager to learn more about Korean culture. She helps organize a series of instructional classes about Asian culture at Binghamton University in upstate Vestal, New York.

“It’s hard to distinguish among Asian cultures for these kids,” she said. “We try to find something that’s uniquely Korean. We’re here to do research and build a program that teachers kids and also teaches teachers.”

The learning continued even after the tour, when the group moved down the street to a nearby restaurant for lunch. Turley was remembering a trip the society took to a museum in Minneapolis when one of the visitors called down the table to him.

“Field trips? When are you going to Korea?” she had said. “Let me know — I’m so there.”

Covenant House New York. Photo: Nell Smith

While most people anticipate gifts, tree trimming, and Christmas carols at holiday time, the young homeless hope simply that a relative or member of the extended family might include them, even temporarily, and break the cycle of shelter life.

For some, the holidays offer moments of short-lived reconciliation. Alice Steigerwald, the deputy director of the non-residential programs at Covenant House, seems to think so. “During Christmas people feel charitable, families feel forgiving and let their kids stay,” she said.  ”After Christmas we never know how many kids will come.” A police officer at the Port Authority station, who did not give his name, offers a different view on holiday homelessness. “Most kids don’t run away during the holidays because they want to see what presents are under the tree,”  he said. Whatever the reason may be, Covenant House works to make the holidays tolerable for the kids who do show up.

Located on 460 West 41^st Street, Covenant House in New York City has been serving homeless youth for almost 40 years.  Each year, Covenant House boards over 6,000 youth between the ages of 16 to 21.  Since the shelter is a crisis center, youth are invited to stay for a total of 30 consecutive days, unless they are approved for an extension (30 to 60 days), or accepted into the transitional housing program, called the Rite of Passage (ROP).

The ROP is an onsite program that equips homeless youth for independent living after leaving the crisis center. The transitional program houses 154 young adults anywhere from 18 months to three years, depending on how well the resident adheres to the program’s in-house policy of completing their education and maintaining employment.

Steigerwald has been working for the non-profit organization for 11 years and  is in charge of preparing the shelter for the holiday season.  “I plan most of the Christmas events we have here at the Covenant House,” she said,  ”and make sure this time of the year is special for kids without homes.”

Covenant House begins planning for Christmas almost twelve months in advance, immediately after the New Year. Throughout the year, they solicit various charitable groups and retail companies for donations.  This year, Aéropostale, a popular clothing store, held a corporate event and raised money for winter clothes that will be delivered to the shelter this week.  Local schools and organizations also donate to the shelter.  “Two schools in the Bronx collected over 1,400 pairs of socks for the kids,” Steigerwald said, while another group donated 80 pair of pajamas.

Steigerwald also plans a large potluck on Christmas Eve for the residents of Covenant House.  She said, “The day before Christmas all of the staff members will bring in a dish and serve the kids. Most staff will bring their own families, so that residents can feel a part of a family.”  This year over 250 people, including residents and staff, will gather around the dinner table and share a home-cooked meal, topped off with a visit from Old St. Nicholas.

One 17-year-old who has been living at Covenant House for less than a month stated,  “This is my first time not being with my family for Christmas.” Being thrown out of the house and told never to return is just one of many rejections she has faced this holiday season. After many attempts to contact various family members for a place to stay, Covenant House became her place of refuge.  Another 19-year-old who also lives at the shelter said, “I don’t have a family.  The people here are closer than what my family has ever been to me.”

With only 108 crisis beds and 154 ROP beds on site, Steigerwald said there is never enough room for those who apply. In the past month, Covenant House has turned away over 100 youth because they do not have enough space to house them. According to the intake reports of last month, Covenant House admitted 22 new residents between the 23^rd and the 25^th.  Though it is difficult to estimate how many homeless youth will come to the shelter for Christmas, Steigerwald thinks the number will be even less than Thanksgiving.

The Port Authority police officer stated that there is no set pattern to youth homelessness. In his six years of working in the homeless and runaway division, he noted that homelessness has always been prevalent in the station, especially among young adults.  He said, “If you’re above 18 there is nothing we can do.  It’s an open building so you can stay.”

The Port Authority homeless squad often sends youth to Covenant House if they are in need of a place to sleep for the night. The police officer does not predict having to make these arrangements in the next few weeks.

For Covenant House the reason a youth is homeless is not important. “If they look like they are living on the street and like they have been sleeping in subways or have not had a good meal to eat, we take them,” said Steigerwald.

“It’s stressful at times and there is so much to do, but in the end it’s worth it.  You can tell they [youth] really appreciate it by the pleases and thank-yous they give,” responded Steigerwald as she organized the new winter coats that were just delivered to her office. During the final days leading up to Christmas, Covenant House will continue to decorate the hallways, stuff stockings and sort countless gifts for the 200 plus youth who will call Covenant House home.

Artist Subi Roberto painting a mural for Art Basel Miami Beach, which took place last weekend. Many Chelsea galleries participated. Photo: The Associated Press.

Like most art galleries in Chelsea, Mallick Williams & Co. is usually open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tuesday to Friday, with more limited hours on Saturday.

But last week, the small gallery at 11th Avenue and West 22nd Street failed to open at all. Instead, Mallick Williams, like many Chelsea galleries, was participating in Art Basel Miami Beach, an annual event widely considered the most important art fair in North America.

Art Basel Miami Beach, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, draws art galleries from all over the world — including 80 based in New York. They come to meet new customers and move artwork at the fair, which is modeled on the original Art Basel, started in Basel, Switzerland, in 1970. The Miami event also includes a number of smaller shows, such as the SCOPE Art Show, in which Mallick Williams & Co. participated.

Galleries must apply to participate in Art Basel Miami Beach, and going can be a point of pride. Ameringer McEnery Yohe, a gallery on West 22nd Street, boasts on its website that it has been “selected for inclusion” at Art Basel Miami Beach every year since the fair began in 2002.

Many of the New York galleries represented are larger ones, like The Pace Gallery and Matthew Marks Gallery, both of which have multiple Manhattan locations. Matthew Marks sent at least five people this year with a variety of artwork, said Reed Handley, who works at the gallery’s West 24th Street location. “It’s a big deal in the industry,” she said. “A lot of people go.”

According to an assistant at one Chelsea gallery that participated this year, who requested anonymity to discuss specific figures, her gallery brought about 80 works to Miami this year: 60 or so by living artists and 20 by deceased ones. This year, her gallery tried to move lower-priced priced pieces at higher volumes. “That’s been a trend since 2009,” she said, when the recession hit art buyers’ wallets. “Prior to that it was the opposite.”

But business, the assistant said, was surprisingly good this year; her gallery sold about half the works it brought down.

Larger galleries don’t typically shutter for a week like Mallick Williams did, but they may sell less art and operate with smaller staffs. Asked about Art Basel Miami Beach last week, an assistant at Sikkema Jenkins & Co. said that everyone at the gallery who typically fielded questions was in Miami.

But many smaller Chelsea galleries choose to skip Miami entirely, both the main fair and smaller shows like SCOPE. Art Basel Miami Beach has something of a party reputation, which Adam Lindemann mocked in a talked-about piece in The New York Observer last week. Why, he asked, “should I be seen rubbing elbows with all those phonies and scenesters, people who don’t even pretend they are remotely interested in art?”

One Chelsea gallery director, who requested anonymity to discuss Art Basel without alienating fellow gallery owners, said her gallery had participated in Art Basel Miami Beach in 2010 but had chosen not to go this year. “We feel that Miami is less important than it used to be,” she said, adding that the slower economy meant art fairs in general were less profitable.

Instead, the director spent her gallery’s art fair budget participating in Art Hong Kong in May, which she said attracted a different clientele; in Miami, many of the buyers are Americans who might buy her art, anyway. Still, she said, “that doesn’t mean we won’t return in the future.”

A carriage horse gets ready to take tourists for a ride in Central Park. Photo: Catherine Griffin.

Walk past Columbus Circle and along Central Park South next to the stone wall overhung by trees.  There you will find the carriage horses, lined up in their livery and hitched to their carriages, ready to take tourists for rides.   On the weekend, the carriages are busy.  A little girl tugs on her mother’s hand, “I want to ride the black one,” she says.  A woman in a wheelchair pauses as a man gets ready to take a picture of her in front of a grey horse.  He waves away the people behind her as they stroke the horse’s nose and coo.

The age of the horse drawn carriage in New York City may soon be coming to an end. Intro. 86, a new piece of legislation designed to phase out carriage horses and replace them with electric, vintage-inspired cars, has already been signed by fourteen city councilmembers, one more than half.  Recent carriage accidents within the city, including the collapse of Charlie, a 15-year-old carriage horse who was later ruled to have died of a stomach ulcer, have fueled the efforts of organizations such as the Coalition to Ban Horse Drawn Carriages and NY Class.  Yet while the debate has focused mainly on whether or not horse drawn carriages should be allowed, very little attention has been given to where these horses will retire if this piece of legislation is passed.

“The point is that if one of these horses is spooked, they or someone else could get hurt,” said Elizabeth Forel, founder of the Coalition to Ban Horse Drawn Carriages.  Since 2006, when a horse named Sporty crashed into a station wagon, her organization has been working to ban horse drawn carriages in New York City.

“The industry just wants the status quo because improving the conditions means loss of money,” Forel said.

The debate is highly polarized, and those who support the carriage industry have equally strong views.  A carriage horse driver herself and co-founder of the Blue Star Equiculture horse sanctuary in Massachusetts, Christina Hansen fights against prevalent public perceptions about carriage horses.  “Well the carriage drivers are against horse abuse, too,” she said.  “Why doesn’t anyone believe them?”

Stand at the southern edge of Central Park and you’ll see carriage drivers feeding and watering their horses, sometimes giving them carrots as treats. One of these drivers, Steve Malone, has worked in the carriage horse industry for the past 24 years.  Driving horses is in his blood; his father, a blacksmith from Ireland, first came to the United States in 1964.  He started driving carriage horses and his son followed in his footsteps.

“You have a special bond with a horse,” he said as he clicked his tongue at his Morgan, a black horse by the name of Tyson.  “I’ve spent as much time with my horse that I’ve had for 11 years as I have with my kids.”

Malone says that the horses are well looked after.  Each carriage is assigned three horses that work in shifts, ensuring that they have time to rest back at the stables.  Malone owns two carriages and six horses, though two of them, at present, are taking their five-week, annual holiday at a farm.

“I didn’t take over my dad’s business because I wanted to drive a car.  If I wanted to drive a car, I would have become a taxi driver; I want to work with horses.”

Intro. 86 may indeed put an end to horse drawn carriages, but the more serious issue is what will happen to the horses afterward.  According to Forel, who has asked every year for the names of the horses registered in New York City, there is a turnover rate of about a third each year.  In addition, most of the over 200 horses at work in the city at any time retire at 20, though many live well into their thirties.

New York City horses are easily identified by a four digit number on their hoof. Yet even though Forel has tried to track them down, she’s met with limited success.

“I think they probably go to auction,” said Forel.  “What happens in the auction is anyone’s guess.”

Susan Wagner, president of Equine Advocates and the owner of a horse sanctuary in upstate New York, believes that there’s a reason that Forel may be having so much trouble tracking down the horses, despite the identification number on their hooves.

“I personally think that what they do is they sand off the hoof number,” Wagner says.  Without their identification numbers, the horses would be far harder to track and recognize, and could potentially end up at kill auctions.

There are two main horse auctions in the northeast, D.R. Chambers & Sons in Unadilla, New York and another auction in Holland, Pennsylvania.  Although at least two New York City carriage horses have been found in the Holland auction, slated to be sold as meat. D.R. Chambers & Sons, though, is another matter.  Kimberly Chambers of D.R. Chambers & Sons says that no New York City carriage horses pass through their horse auction.

So where do these horses go?  Some end up in horse sanctuaries throughout the northeast. Blue Star Equiculture claims to be the official retirement home for New York City carriage horses, though they currently only have one New York City carriage horse named Rosie.

Pamela Rickenbach, co-founder of the sanctuary, was once a carriage driver herself in Philadelphia.  She first became involved in the business in order to learn how to drive horses for organic farming.  Surprised by the views that the public had of carriage drivers, Rickenbach began to speak up for the carriage industry, eventually forming a sanctuary for retired horses.

“When we opened up the sanctuary, we received more farm and rider horses than any carriage horses,” Rickenbach said. “The carriages horses in general don’t really have trouble finding retirement because they’re such skilled workers.”  Many carriage horses go on to become everything from riding horses to carriage horses again, though if they do continue to work in the carriage industry, their work is usually far less strenuous.

Her colleague, Equiculture co-founder Christina Hansen, is quick to note that draft horses are working horses and that they need the exercise.  “We have this one horse who’s now actually been adopted out to someone else.  He’s 32 years old and named Jesse.”

Jesse, unfortunately, wasn’t doing very well.  He was a former carriage horse in Connecticut and pulling a carriage became too much for him.

“We just put the harness on him and took him for a walk,” said Hansen.  “He perked right up and carried himself all proudly and he began gaining weight again.”

“It’s a mental stimulation as well for him.  It’s healthier than them standing around in a field doing nothing.”

While Blue Star Equiculture believes that the horses are snapped up by new homes, Equine Advocates has another view.  Wagner believes that she doesn’t see many New York City carriage horses in her sanctuary for one particular reason.

“We don’t have any other carriage horses because it’s of my opinion that the operators take them to slaughter rather than putting them in a sanctuary,” she says.

Malone is quick to dispute Wagner’s claim.  “I’ve never had trouble finding a home for my horses,” he said.  “I’m fortunate enough that I’ve had my horses for a number of years and haven’t had to retire them.  It’s not like we’re retiring horses every couple of months.”

In addition to the equine sanctuaries that house carriage horses, the Humane Society of New York has a carriage horse adoption program for any driver who needs to find a place for their horse.  However, only six horses have gone through the program.

“Taking care of a horse is time consuming and expensive” said Sandra DeFeo, Executive Director of the Humane Society of New York.  When placing a carriage horse, the organization has to make sure that both the owner and their property are suitable for the animal.

“Currently, I don’t know of any other official retirement program,” she said.  “I only hear about banning the carriage horses.”

Even after counting up the horses at equine sanctuaries and adoption programs,  a majority of them are unaccounted for.  Hansen has an explanation.

“The one thing to remember is that all carriage horses are privately owned,” Hansen said.  “There are several drivers that have their own farms outside of town, so they will keep their own horses on their farm.”

DeFeo agrees.  “I think the carriage people have connections with others,” she said, commenting on where she believes carriage horses go for retirement.

At least one carriage horse driver backs up that assertion.  A few years ago he retired his horse, Captain, to a farm in upstate New York, owned by another carriage horse driver named Frank Roden.

Malone has retired his horses to a therapeutic riding program in North Carolina.  “They need gentle, easy-going horses for the program,” he said.

If Intro. 86 were passed, many more horses would eventually need to find retirement.  The ASPCA has offered to find homes for any horses displaced by Intro. 86.  However, funds and manpower are huge issues in housing and caring for retired horses.

“Thousands and thousands of horses need homes,” said Hansen.  “One, you’re taking away homes for horses that already exist, and then make it impossible for them to find homes.”